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NATURE STORIES FOR 
YOUNG READERS 



ANIMAL LIFE 



BY 

FLORENCE BASS 



" I would not enter on my list of friends, 
Though graced with polished manners and fine sense, 
Yet lacking sensibility, the man 
Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm." — Cowper. 



BOSTON, U.S.A. 

D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

1895 



621503 

Copyright, 1894, 
By FLORENCE BASS. 



Typography by J. S. Cushing & Co., Boston, Mass., U.S. A 
Prbsswork by C. H. Heintzemann, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 



PREFACE. 



The subjects of this series of lessons are mainly 
such insects or other animals as the children may 
observe for themselves. 

The lessons aim to give illustrations of some of the 
varied means of self-protection employed by animals ; 
their methods of home-building and of caring for 
their young ; the transformations they undergo ; the 
adaptability to their surroundings as shown by their 
coverings and the " tools '' with which the various 
animals are provided. 

The purpose in attempting to bring these thoughts 
to the youngest readers is manifold. 

It is hoped that such readers may become interested, 
while children, in the abundant life about them, and 
that when this interest is gratified by learning of the 
wonderful lives and habits of these " little people," 
a respect for all life may be inculcated. 

It is desirable that children acquire such feeling 
for lives weaker than their own, that they may never 
give unnecessary pain to any creature and never take 



IV PREFACE. 

a life except in self-defense or for some other very 
good reason. A child thus trained to feel for the 
lower forms of life cannot fail to be more considerate 
of his own kind. 

By interesting children in the wonderful ways of 
insects, it is hoped that the timid, fearful children, 
who scream if a " bug " happens to come near them, 
may become less fearful and find pleasure where 
they once found only pain. Let them learn that in 
most cases these insects will do them no harm, if 
unmolested. Let the children see that it is possible 
for us to learn much about insects or" animals with- 
out hurting, or even touching them. 

The purpose is to discourage the study of any ani- 
mal at the cost of its life, or of giving it pain. If 
the animal cannot be kept in the school-room with 
a home and comforts reasonably like its own, it should 
not be kept at all. The children may be led to search 
and observe it in its natural environment. That is 
the place to study life. 

Leave the collecting and pulling to pieces and nam- 
ing of parts to older and more scientific people, if 
such work must be done. Do not ask it of the 
tender-hearted little children, and do not countenance 
it in th5 children more cruel by nature. All knowl- 
edge that children gain by taking life or giving pain 



PKEFACE. V 

to beings weaker than themselves, seems to me to be 

gained at the expense of their moral nature, and is 

therefore better done without. 

Finally, it is surely impossible to become acquainted, 

even in a slight degree, with these expressions of the 

wondrous thoughts of God, without being drawn 

nearer to their Maker and ours. 

F. B. 

Indianapolis, Ind. 



TO THE CHILDREN. 



Dear Little Friends : — 

Some time ago I wrote you some little stories about 
plants. 

I tried to show you how all plant mothers have 
the same thing to do : they make seeds. 

These are really little cradles in which baby plants 
are wrapped up. 

Food is left in the seed for them to eat when they 
begin to grow. 

I tried also to let you see some of the ways the 
plant has to keep her seed babies from harm till 
they are grown. 

Sometimes it is done with thorns or briers or hard 
shells or bitter fruit. 

We saw, too, that many of them have ways of 
sending their little ones out into the world. 

Now I wish to tell you a few things about animals. 

You will see that an animal mother must also 
provide for her little ones. 



TO THE CHILDEEK vil 

Sometimes she has no more to do than the plant 
mother. 

She leaves her eggs where the little ones will find 
food when they begin to grow. 

Bat you may be sure she will do that much. 

Sometimes she takes care of them till they are 
grown. 

Sometimes she even gives her life for them. 

In these little stories we will read of some of the 
many ways animal mothers do these things. 

As you take your walks, into the country, look 
about you to see how many little stories you may 
see acted out, for yourself. 

Plants told us many things by what they did. 

Now because animals can act so much more, they 
can tell us more. 

Perhaps they really do have a way of talking to 
one another. They often act as if they did. 

As you watch these little insects you may see 
them treat one another in a way that seems very 
cruel to you. 

Suppose you watcli to see why they do these things. 

See if you find one animal taking the life of 
another except for food, or to defend itself or its 
home from harm. 

We do that ourselves. I hope we do not do more. 



viii TO THE CHILDKEK 

When we learn so many wonderful things of these 
" little people " about us, they seem almost like fairies, 
do they not ? 

Remember that you are a giant in this fairy-land. 

I hope you will try to be a gentle giant. 

Do not harm them, if you can help it. 

Enjoy them by looking at them, just as you do 
the bright sunshine, the blue hills, and the golden 
sunset and every other beautiful thing in this great 
world of ours. Your friend, 

Florence Bass. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

A Little Mother • • • 1 

The Little Children 4 

Wasp & Co 6 

A Digger Wasp 12 

Story of a Spider 14 

In a Flower 20 

Up in a Balloon 22 

A Mother Spider 24 

A Bridge Builder 26 

Down in the Water 29 

Down in the Ground 30 

Evening Chorus 34 

Are they Fairies ? 35 

Honey Bees 38 

Story of a Locust, or Harvest Fly 43 

A Basket Maker 48 

A Little Builder 51 

A Mosquito 54 

A House Fly 58 

Some Friends of Ours 60 

A Leaf-Cutter Bee ' 65 

ix 



X CONTENTS. 

PAOK 

A Butterfly 69 

A Queer House 71 

More about the Kound House 74 

A Grasshopper 76 

Asleep on the Trees 78 

Asleep in the Ground 81 

An Owl 83 

Beaver and Squirrel 85 

The Duck and the Hen 90 

Which has the Best Coat? 93 

A Cuttlefish 98 

Some Little Dressmakers 101 

Awake 104 

A Cocoon 108 

The Moth 109 

A Kingbird 110 

The Eobin's Song 113 

An Ant's Story 116 

The Best Jumper 122 

A May Fly 124 

Some Little Helpers 127 

Tumble Bugs 129 

A Little Carpenter 132 

A Queer Fellow 134 

A Lady BuG^s Talk 136 

A Little Actor 139 

A Little Gymnast 142 

A Living Light 144 

A Little Messenger 146 

A Little Gardener .... , , . .... 149 



CONTENTS. xi 

PAGE 

A Humming Bird 151 

A Hawk Moth 153 

A Snail 156 

A Dragon 158 

A Careful Little Mother 162 

The Most Wonderful of All 164 



NATUKE ST0EIE8 FOE YOUNG EEADEES. 



o>»?o 



A LITTLE MOTHEE. 



Children, did you 
ever think how 
much your mothers 
do for you? 

They give you 
good things to eat, 




-•^'5.'^ 




clothes to wear, 
and help to make 
a pleasant home 
for you. 

Let us look at 
some of the very 
"little people" 
about us. 



I NATURE STORIES. 

See how these Uttle mothers take 
care of theu^ little ones. 

Here is a picture of a little mother. 

She is Mrs. Mud Wasp. She is 
working very hard. 

She seems never to stop for a minute. 

What can she be doing? 

Just now she is building her house. 

See her come with a little ball of 
mud. 

Watch her spread out this mud 
with her jaws. 

She begins at the middle and spreads 
it down one side. 

Now see her dart away. She has 
gone for more soft mud. 

Soon she comes back with another 
piece. 

She begins at the top and spreads 
it out on the other side. 



A LITTLE MOTHER. 6 

What a noise she makes as she 
works ! 

Soon she will have one room done. 
Then she goes in and leaves a little 

egg- 
Now she must find something for 

her baby to eat, when it creeps out 

of that egg. 

What do you suppose she gets? 
Why! Little spiders! 

I have seen as many as eight 
spiders put in for one baby wasp to 
eat. 

^ Perhaps it likes them as well as 
you and I like fried chicken, which 
our mothers get for us. 

Mother Wasp walls up these spiders 
in a room with her egg. 

Perhaps she makes many more 
rooms like this. 



4 NATURE STORIES. 

Then she flies away and never comes 
back. 

She never sees her own little ones. 

Perhaps she knows that she has 
taken all the care of them that they 
need. 

THE LITTLE CHILDREN. 

Would you like to know what goes 
on inside this mud house? I will 
tell you about it. 

A tiny white grub creeps out of 
each of those eggs. It looks hke a 
little worm. 

" What ! " you say, " a worm out 
of a wasp's egg ! " 

Yes, that is just what a baby wasp 
looks like. 

It eats the spiders Mrs. Wasp left 
for it. 



THE LITTLE CHILDREN. 

It grows bigger very fast. 

I fear it does not know how hard 
its mother worked to get all that food 
for it and make its house. 

After a while it goes to sleep in a 
little case. 

It seems to be dead, but it is not. 

It is only growing to be a wasp like 
its mother. 

By and by it wakes up, — a full- 
grown wasp. 

It never grows any more. 

It bit6s a hole through its mud 
house and flies away. 

Do you think it knows yet how 
much its mother did for it? 

We cannot tell that. 

It surely knows how to do the 
same things for its own little ones. 



NATUKE STORIES. 



WASP & CO. 




OLDEST PAPER MAKERS IN THE WORLD. 

See this paper 
house. 

It belongs to _^'|^5pS 

Mrs. Wasp. She. ^l^j^V' -"• 
is a cousin of ' "^^t-C'^* ^. 
Mrs. Mud Wasp. ^ ' ^* 

She makes a much finer house than 
her cousin. 

Her house is all made of paper. 

Where do you suppose she got the 
paper? Can you guess? 

Why ! She made it her- 
self — every bit of it. 

Her folks knew how to 
make paper long before men did. 

She picks little pieces off of old 




WASP & CO. 



fence rails. She bites them up fine 
and makes them into paper. 

But I must tell you the story of 
Mrs. Wasp and her house. 

Then you will see what a wise 
little being she is. 

She did not have this pretty house 
to live in last winter. 

She slept in a little crack in the 
barn. 

It was very hard to keep from 
freezing. 

She did not need to come out to 
get anything to eat. 



8 NATURE STORIES. 

II. 

When the warm spring days came, 
she waked up and crept out. 

She was all alone in the world. 

She started out bravely to make 
a home of her own. She soon found 
a good place. 

She began several rooms at once. 

She makes her house in a queer 
way. 

She begins at the top and works 
down. 

Then her rooms are open at the 
bottom. 

They seem wrong side up to us. 

When these little rooms were ready, 
she put an egg into each one. 

But she did not put in anything for 
her baby to eat, as Mrs. Mud Wasp 
does. 



WASP & CO. 9 

Do not think she fails to care for 
her little ones. 

After a while a little grub comes 
out of each egg. You would think 
she would not own that foi* her baby. 
But she does. 

Then how she must work to find 
food for her little ones. 

She has to feed them much as a 
mother bird feeds her babies. 

Off goes Mrs. Wasp perhaps to the 
butcher's. Back she comes with a fly. 

Off again, here and there she flies. 

ShQ is very busy taking care of her 

family. 

III. 

By and by you will find a little 
white door shutting up each room. 

Mrs. Wasp does not feed the little 
ones now. 



10 NATURE STORIES. 

They are asleep. She is not uneasy 
about them. 

Do you suppose she knows what is 
going on inside of those rooms ? 

Each Httle worm is turning into a 
wasp like its mother. 

Has she not been a good little 
mother to them? 

See what pretty rooms she made. 

How carefully she fed them ! 

She is not afraid to fight for them, 
too. You will find this out if you 
bother her at her work. 

I do not blame her for fighting for 
her home and children, do you ? 

At last the white doors open. 

Out come the children, — full-grown 
worker wasps. 

Now what do you suppose these 
children do ? 



WASP & CO. 11 

Just what all good children should 
do. 

They go to work to help their 
mother. 

They help build more rooms. 

They clean up their old rooms for 
little new wasps. They help feed all 
the little ones. 

I^ow Mrs. Wasp has not so much 
work to do. 

Are you not glad she has such good 
children to help her ? 

They seem to me to be a pretty 
good and wise family. Do you not 
think so ? 



12 



NATURE STORIES. 



A DIGGER WASP. 



Sou \uiv tliff- 

■ 7 



/ 



hMhiim 



'''^'^- 



Who is this ? What is she doing ? 

giug in the dirt 

' with her front 

feet, like a dog. 

7|// / She is mak- 

w y ing a hole in 

'M the ground. 

'^^^"'^mffr^ Can she be 
^^^^)^^ hunting for some- 
thing to eat ? Let us watch and see 
what she does. 

I^ow her hole has grown quite deep. 

She must go down and bring up 
each piece of dirt, — just as an ant 
does. 

Now she seems to have finished her 
work. She takes a little piece of dirt 
and stops up the hole. 



A DIGGER WASP. 13 

Off she flies, and we wait for her 
return. 

What is she about now? I will 
tell you. 

She has gone to get dinner ready. 

Did you say, "Dinner? for whom, 
and of what kind ? " 

Why! dinner for her little one, of 
course. 

It is going to live in that room she 
has made. 

She means to bring back a big fat 
caterpillar for its dinner. I suppose 
she knows what is best for it. 

That is all the care she has to take 
of it. 

The food she brings will last until 
it turns into a wasp like its mother. 

Then it can take care of itself 

Mrs. Wasp, you are not as good a 



14 NATURE STORIES. 

house builder as your cousin Mud 
Wasp. 

She really builds her house. You 
only dig into the ground. 

But perhaps you do the best you 
know. 

But Mrs. Wasp is gone a long time. 

Perhaps she is having some trouble 
to find her fresh meat. 

I think we will not wait for her 
return. ^ 

STORY OF A SPIDER. 
I. 

One day Mrs. Spider sat in the mid- 
dle of her web. 

She had on a gold and black dress. 

She had a silver-gray bonnet. 

She wears four pairs of stockings, 
you know. 



STORY OF A SPIDER. 15 

They are all or- 
ange and black. 

She was al- 
most as pretty 
as the flowers. 

What a 
beautiful web 
she had, too ! 

It was made 
of the finest silk. 

It was all Mi's. Spider's own 
work. You must know ^---"^she is 
the very finest of spinners. 

She made a little white winding 
stair up one side of her web. 

Then everything was all ready; so 
she sat down to wait for a caller. 




16 NATURE STORIES. 

II. 

Pretty soon a man came along. 

But Mrs. Spider did not wish to 
see him. 

So she shook her web as hard as 
she could. 

Perhaps she thought that would 
keep him from seeing her. 

She feared the man would kill her. • 

I am afraid he would, too; though 
I cannot see why he should. 

He does not seem to know that she 
is one of his best friends. 

But so she is ; she is a benefit to 
him every day. 

She eats insects that are harmful to 
him or his garden. 

But she herself does him no harm. 

Pretty soon the man went away. 

Then Mrs. Spider sat quite still again. 



STORY OF A SPIDER. 



17 




Ah ! who is this flv 
ing so swiftly toward 
the spider web ? 

It is Mrs. Mud 
Wasp. 

Is she the caller 
that is wanted ? 

We will watch to 
see how she 
ceived. 

But where 
Mrs. Spider? 

She is not 
in sight. 

It is quite 




18 NATUEE STOEIES. 

plain that she has run off from Mrs. 
Mud Wasp. 

It is well that she did. 

If she had not, Mrs. Mud Wasp 
would have run off with her. 

But what has become of Mrs. Spi- 
der? 

She saw Mrs. Mud Wasp coming. 

She knew, too, why she was coming. 

Quick as a flash she dropped from 
her web. 

She spun a line to run back upon. 

I^ow she is lying quite still upon 
the ground. 

Perhaps she is laughing to her- 
self: " I beat you this time, Mrs. Mud 
Wasp." 

If Mrs. Wasp should see her lying 
on the ground, she would not care to 
touch her. 



STORY OF A SPIDER. 19 

Mrs. Spider is playing " dead " down 
there. 

She is all curled up in a httle 
bunch. 

She knows how to keep herself 
safe. 

Mrs. Mud Wasp does not care for a 
dead spider. So off she goes. 

IV. 

!N'ow Mrs. Spider comes to life very 
quickly. 

She climbs up her silken rope to 
her web. 

Again she sits still, waiting for the 
right caller. 

For whom can she be waiting so 
long? 

She hopes some insect will come 
flying along. 



20 NATURE STORIES. 

If he does not see her web, he may 
be caught in it. 

That is the only way she has to get 
the meat for her dinner. 

You see the caller she wants is the 
one who brings her something for 
dinner. He may be here soon. 

I think I will go on, Mrs. Spider. 

I do not care to see you get your 
dinner ready. 

IN A FLOWER. 

Here is another little spider. 

She does not build a web to catch 
her dinner. 

Do you see what she does instead ? 

She hides in a flower. 

You can scarcely see her, unless you 
look very closely. 



IN A FLOWEE. 



21 




She is very nearly tlie 
color of the flower she sits 
upon. 

Does she know 
colors ? 

How can she tell ( ■ 
which flower matches her 
dress ? 

She seems to know^ 
never goes to one of the wrong color. 

Why is she so anxious to match the 
flower ? 

She has two reasons: First, that she 
may not be seen by her enemies. 

They may pounce upon her and 
carry her off. 

Then she does not wish to be seen 
by the little insects that come to the 
flower to feed. Then she can jump 
up and catch them for her dinner. 



22 NATURE STORIES. 

That is the way she has to make 
her living. 

Ah ! little fairy, who gave you that 
pretty dress ? 

Who taught you where to hide and 
how to get your living ? 



oj«io 



UP IN A BALLOON. 

Who made the balloon ? 

Who is going up in it ? 

The same answer will do for both 
questions. 

For it was no other than Mrs. Spi- 
der herself 

She wished to take a journey. She 
had no wings to fly with. 

She could not go on the cars as 
we do. 



UP IN A BALLOON. 

She climbed to the top 
of that plant. 

She stiffened out her 
legs and held up her body. 

She spun a number of c 
lifi^ht silken 
thi'cads. 

They 
wore so 










Ili>-}lt tliev 3<^S"Vl-r 

tloated iipwurd. 

iSooii she lind spun 
so nijiiiy, slu' frit they 
would bear lier up. 

So slie ,t!,av(' u little 
leap, and away she 
sailed through the air. 



24 NATURE STORIES. 

Her silk threads carried her, just as 
the silk threads carry the milkweed 
seeds. 

But she makes her own balloon. 

She can ride a long distance. 

If she wishes to come down, she 
can roll up her threads. Then her 
own weight will take her down. 

Is she not like a fairy to do such 
wonderful things ? 

A MOTHER SPIDER. 




Here is a little mother spider. See 
the big ball she carries with her ! 



A MOTHEB. SPIDER. 25 

Do you know what is inside? 

She has hundreds of eggs in it. 

She carries this ball of eggs about 
with her. 

She will fight for it. 

She will lose one of her legs rather 
than her egg-ball. 

Is she not a brave little mother ? 

When the little spiders hatch out, 
she cares for them, too. 

Sometimes they ride on her back 
as she goes about. 

But the little spiders grow very fast. 

Soon their skins are too small. They 
change them for new ones. 

They will soon be able to care for 
themselves. 

Their motlier takes good care of 
them till that time. 



26 



NATURE STOEIES. 



A BRIDGE BUILDER. 




Little Mrs. Spider sat upon a bush 
by the side of a brook. 

" Now, how shall I cross ? " she said 
to herself. 

Then she thought, " Why, there must 
be a bridge, of course. 

" There seems to be none here. T 
must build one myself" 



A BRIDGE BUILDEE. 27 

So she at once began to spin. 

You know what a fine spinner she is. 

Her loom is always with her and 
ready. 

Soon a soft silken line floated out 
into the air. 

Mrs. Spider sat quite still and 
waited. 

She knew what would likely happen. 

The line floated gently over the 
stream and lodged in a bush beyond. 

That was just what ghe was wait- 
ing for. 

If her first fine had not gone there, 
she would have tried again. 

Now see her run over her light 
line. 

She spins another as she goes. 

At the other side she tightens the 
thread. 



28 NATURE STORIES. 

Back and forth she goes, making 
her bridge stronger each time. 

And now her fairy bridge is done. 

Who could find a better way to get 
the first Hne across the brook ? 

Spiders have built bridges this way 
many years. 

Once a man wished to build a 
bridge. 

He sent a kite over a river to get 
the first hne across. 

Do you suppose Mrs. Spider made 
him think of that way of doing it ? 




DOWN IN THE WATER. 29 

DOWN IN THE WATER. 

Now we must hear a story of a 
diver. 

Strange to say, this diver' 
has her home in the 
water. 
Who can the diver be ? 
Why, another spider. She says: 
" I will have the safest place of all 
for my babies. I will build my 
house down under the water." 

So si 10 really does make a 
little silken house 
down there. 
How can she 
m;- live down in the 
^-'■\ water? 
-f^f'- She must have 
air to breathe. 




30 NATURE STORIES. 

She really brings bubbles of air with 
her, and fills up her little home. 

There she makes her cocoon and 
lays her eggs. 

There she raises her baby spiders. 

Is she not a queer builder ? 

DOWN IN THE GROUND. 

Let us hear about the house of an- 
other spider. 

She has still a different way of build- 
ing her home. 

She digs a round hole down into the 
earth. 

But she cannot have only bare mud 
walls for her house. 

IN^ot she : so she works hard, as any 
tidy housekeeper should, to make her 
house look well. 



DOWN IN THE GROUND. 



31 



She weaves the finest and most 
beautiful silken curtains. 

She covers her walls with them. 




Then she makes a door that just 
fits into the top of her house. 

She fastens it on with a hinge. 

She makes it a little larger at the 
top than at the bottom. 



32 NATURE STORIES. 

Then it cannot fall in upon her. 

She covers the inside of this door 
with a silken curtain, too. 

But it would not do to leave the 
outside of it mud color. 

That would show everybody where 
she lives. 

She does not wish any visitors. 

Poor little thing ! She knows they 
would not treat her well. 

They might kill her and her babies. 

So she covers her door outside with 
such plants as she sees around her. 

This mother spider has a pretty safe 
place for her little ones. 

It is very hard to find such a nest. 

I think she has earned her safety. 

Do you not think so ? 



EVENING CHORUS. 



33 







34 NATURE STORIES. 

EVENING CHORUS!!! 

Given by the Summer JSTight Glee 
Club. Beginning August first. 

Every night until frost. 

Mr. Frog, Mr. Screech Owl, and Mr. 
Katy-Did are the soloists. 

Mr. Black Cricket and the noted 
Tree Cricket will also be heard. 

Grand orchestra of over one thou- 
sand crickets ! ! 

The numbers on this program are 
selected especially to please the ladies. 

Mr. Firefly will furnish calcium 
lights on these grand occasions ! ! 

Music begins promptly at dusk and 
continues till dawn. 

Do not fail to hear the music. 

Admission free to all who have ears 
to hear III 



ARE THEY FAIRIES? 



35 



ARE THEY FAIRIES? 

One day I walked out into the 
garden. 

I saw some 
white things fly- 
ing about over the cab- c^^^^^s 
bage. What could they be ? 

Do you think they were snowflakes ? 

No, indeed ; for it was hot summer. 

Were they little flowers ? 





36 NATURE STORIES. 

]S"o; for they flew about, here and 
there. 

They looked like little fairies all 
dressed in white. 

Ah ! they were beautiful white but- 
terflies. 

What could they have been doing ? 

Do you think they liked cabbage 
to eat ? 

ISTot so; they were too dainty for 
such fare. 

They stopped just a moment on a 
leaf 

Then oflP they darted to another. 

I looked closely where one of them 
stopped. 1 found a tiny green egg. 

Not long after, a little green worm 
crept out of the egg. 

It did not look at all like its pretty 
white mother. 



ARE THEY FAIRIES? 37 

Such a greedy little thing as it was ! 

Cabbage is just what it wanted to eat. 

That is why its mother left her egg 
there. 

How do you suppose she knew that ? 

That is her way of taking care of it. 

She put it where it could got plenty 
to eat. 

The little worm ate so much that it 
grew very fast. 

By and by it stopped eating. It 
seemed to grow sleepy. 

A little green skin covered it all 
over. 

It did not move. I could see neither 
head nor legs. 

It stayed there a few days. Then it 
broke its shell and crept out. 

It was a beautiful white butterfly 
like its mother. 



38 



NATURE STORIES. 



Does this not sound like a fairy 
story ? 

And yet it is all true. 

You may see all these things your- 
self. 

You cannot see the fairy that 
changes the green worm to a but- 
terfly. 

But you can see that it is done. 



HONEY BEES. 




See this little 
bee on the big 
sunflower. AVhat 
is she doing? 
She has two baskets with her. 
Do you know where they are ? 



HONEY BEES. 



39 



A%^ 



She has come to market. Watch 
her a moment. 

You will see 
her filling her 
baskets with 
flower dust. 

See how 
much flower 
dust she al- 
ready has. 

What is she 
going to do with this yellow dust? 

She will take it home to make bee 
bread for the baby bees. 

Do you know where her home is ? 

I am sure you have all seen the 
outside of the pretty beehive where 
she lives. 

You have seen the busy workers 
going in and out. 




40 NATURE STORIES. 

You have seen them going to the 
flowers for honey. 

Perhaps you have seen the drones 
crawling about doing nothing. 

But, poor fellows ! they have a hard 
enough time, after all. 

The workers sting them to death 
when winter comes. 

You have seen the beautiful honey- 
comb. 

You know how it is all made of 

little cells or rooms. 

Each has just six sides. 

You have all tasted 

jj^vyiTtivv^w^^rijr the sweet honey the 

lAw!^^^^?^* l>ees make. You know 

— ***i«.^>sjw. liow good it IS. 

You do not need to be told how 
much the bees do for us. 

Do you not wondei' how they can 




HONEY BEES. 41 

make the honey from the flowers ? 
We could not do it. 

II. 

If you could only go inside the bees' 
house, what wonders you would see ! 

You would see the queen bee her- 
self She is the mother of all. 

How she is petted and cared for by 
the others ! 

You would perhaps see the bees 
making the wax cells. 

You would find bee bread in some 
cells. 

You would find baby bees in other 
cells. 

Perhaps you would find baby queens 
in some. 

Ah ! but there is trouble when one 
of them comes out ! 



42 NATURE STORIES. 

There must not be two queens in 
one hive. 

So the new queen and the old one 
fight till one kills the other. 

Or a part of the workers go oif with 
one queen and start a new home of 
their own. 

Then we say they swarm. 

Bees are very hard-working little 
people. 

They work so hard to lay up honey 
for themselves. 

But they make much more than 
they need. 

So there is plenty for us. 



STORY OF A LOCUST. 



43 



THE STORY OF A LOCUST, OR 
HARVEST FLY. K 

I. 

Do you see that littUi 
brown shell ? 

I used to live there. 
I will tell you about »^ 
my life. 

But first you must know 
my name. 

My real name is Cicada. 
If that is too hard to ya} , you 
may call me a Harvest Fly. 

I do not like 
to be called a 
Locust. I will 
tell you why. 
Real locusts 
are a kind of grasshopper. 





44 NATURE STORIES. 

Sometimes many of them come to- 
gether. 

They eat up every green thing they 
can find. 

Now, I do not do such bad things 
as that. 

I do not eat up your crops. 

I sit up in the trees these hot days 
and make music. 

My mate likes to hear me. • Do you ? 

II. 

A year ago Mother Cicada put a 
great many httle eggs into a twig. 

In a few weeks I crept out of one 
of those eggs. 

I was very small then, — as little as 
an ant. 

I knew that my home was to be in 
the ground. 



STORY OF A LOCUST. 45 

But how should I get there ? 

I was afraid to crawl down the tree. 

Something might catch me. 

So I crept out to the end of the 
branch and let go. 

Down I went, over and over, to the 
ground. 

It did not hurt me at all. 

I bored my way down into the 
ground. 

I ate roots for my food. 

I did not look as I do now. 

I was only an ugly bug. 

I grew to be as big as that shell. 

III. 

Last week something seemed to call 
me up into the bright world. 

So I bored my way through the 
ground and came out. 



46 NATURE STORIES. 

I crawled up on that twig you see 
there. 

I fixed my claws into it very firmly. 

Then a queer thing happened; my 
dry brown coat split open on the 
back. 

I pushed my back up, and then 
pulled out my head. Next came out 
my four wings. 

They were little soft green things, 
all crumpled up. 

Then one by one I pulled out my 
legs. 

They were very weak at first. 

I leaned over backwards and moved 
them up and down. That made them 
grow stronger. 

At last I pulled my whole body out 
of my shell. 

But I clung to it with my feet. 



STOKY OF A LOCUST. 47 

Then you should have seen my 
wings. 

Larger and larger they grew. 

They soon became as large as they 
are now. 

But they were still quite soft and 
the veins were green. 

Before long my wings were hard 
and glassy, and the veins were black. 

I can fly now wherever I choose. 

I am glad to get out of the ground 
into this beautiful world. 

Do you wonder that I love to sit 
up in the trees and make music? 



48 



NATURE STORIES. 



A BASKET MAKER. 







Look what a fine basket I have 
made. 

I live in the basket. It is really 
my house. 



A BASKET MAKER. 49 

I made it around me. 

Does it seem queer to you to build 
a house and stay inside of it all the 
time? 

I began it when I was very little. 

As I grew bigger, I kept making my 
house bigger. 

I reach over and fasten the little 
pieces on the outside. 

I carry my house with me, as I 
travel over the tree. 

If I am scared, I creep inside and 
shut myself in. 

I creep nearly out if I wish to find 
something to eat. 

I still hold fast to my basket. 

By and by I shall shut myself inside 
and sleep for some time. 

When I wake up I can fly away; 
for I shall be a little moth. 



50 NATURE STORIES. 

My little mate never leaves her 
house. 

She has no wings, so she cannot fly. 

She lays many little eggs in her 
basket. 

'Next spring her babies will come 
out of them. 

Then each one will begin to make 
a basket for himself 

He does not need to stop to learn 
how. 

He may be on a locust or cedar or 
pine tree. 

He does not seem to care. 

He goes to work and makes the 
best basket he can of what he has. 

Is that not a pretty good way ? 



A LITTLE BUILDER. 



51 



A LITTLE BUILDER. 



-it^hiiM^ 




Here is a picture of a queer little 
house in the water. 

The little builder lives inside. 

He is called a Caddis Worm. 

Do you see his funny little house ? 

It is made of tiny shells and 
stones. 

Mr. Caddis Worm has a very soft 
little body. 

He could not live long in the water 
without his house. 



52 NATURE STORIES. 

A hungry fish would soon find him. 

What can he do ? He must find a 
safe place to live. 

Perhaps he has seen Mr. Snail with 
his house on his back. He sees what 
a good thing that is. 

But no house has been given to Mr. 
Caddis Worm. 

Perhaps he has heard how Mr. Bas- 
ket Worm has made a house for him- 
self 

He may think : " Well, I can do that 
myself" 

But he has a harder task than Mr. 
Basket Worm. 

He has to build right in the water. 

He picks up little shells or bits of 
stone, or whatever he can find. 

He sticks them together with a kind 
of glue he makes himself 



A LITTLE BUILDER. 53 

He begins his house when he is very 
Uttle. 

As he grows bigger, he must keep 
adding to it. 

He fastens a little silken door over 
the end of his house. 

Can you guess what goes on inside 
of that house ? 

Perhaps you can if you look at the 
picture. 

Yes, he flies away; for when he 
comes out, he has wings. Then he is 
called a Caddis Fly. 

I am glad he has such pretty wings. 

He worked so hard to make his 
house, I think he ought to have a good 
time now. 



54 NATURE STORIES. 

A MOSQUITO. 

I. 

Here is an enemy of ours. She has 
a pretty, graceful form, but I am quite 

sure that none 

iJ^m^L.-,- - - -i - of US will ever 

like her. 

And no won- 
der ; she does 
not treat us at 
all well. 
If only she would let us alone, then 
we would not bother about her so much. 
We do not like her song. We do 
not like her bite. 

So take care, Mrs. Mosquito. We 
must fight for ourselves if you attack us. 
Let us see if we cannot learn some- 
thing of interest about her. 




A MOSQUITO. 55 

That is all the good we may hope 
to get from her, I am sure. 

The rain barrel will be a good place 
to go to learn about her. 

^Oj she does not live there now; 
she did live there once. 

We will go to see how she began 
life. 

n. 

Ah ! there is a little piece of brown 
lint floating on the water. 

'No, indeed ; that is a whole boat of 
mosquito eggs glued together. 

Is it not a queer 
place for Mrs. 
Mosquito to leave 
her eggs? - ' ^^^^ 

But she knows ^-"^ 

what she is about, I suppose. 




56 NATURE STORIES. 

After a while little wiggle-tails come 
out of these eggs. 

Watch them as they go wriggling 
through the water. 

How funny they are ! 

See those little hairs at the end of 
their tails. 

They breathe through those hairs. 

As they grow larger, they split open 
their skins and come out. 

You often see their old skins lying 
on the water. 

III. 

After a while they seem to have 
changed. 

If you shake the water, down they 
go tumbling over and over to the 
bottom. 

Then they are called tumblers. 



A MOSQUITO. 57 

But soon the tumblers break their 
skins and come out, — mosquitoes. 

They must be very careful while 
drying their wings. 

They will drown 
if they fall into the 
water. 

Yes, in the very 
place where they 
have lived. 

Is not that queer? T^^ 

Ah! there is one nearly ready to 
fly off and bite us. We must run or 
fight. 

Well, you are very interesting, Mrs. 
Mosquito. 

You may be very smart, but you 
are not kind, which would be better. 

I do not like you. 




58 



NATUKE STORIES. 



Thank you, 
Tliat 



A HOUSE FLY. 



) girl, 
ery kind 
ou to 
me out 




of that dish 
of water. 

You have saved my life. 

I am sure that you are kind to all 
things. 

You did not like to see me strug- 
gling there in the water. 

You were willing to help me, though 
you do not like me. 

I would like to do something for you. 

I will sit still and let you see the 
beautiful colors on my wings. 



A HOUSE FLY. 59 

See how I rub my legs together. 

That is the way I keep them clean. 

See how quickly I can bend my 
head and give it a rub. 

I wash somewhat as your cat does. 

See my long trunk! Watch me 
suck up my food through it. 

If you had such eyes as I have, you 
could see more things about me. 

I have hundreds of eyes. 

I do not have to turn my head as 
you do, when I wish to see around. 

My eyes look every way. 

I have wonderful little feet. 

I can walk on the ceiling with my 
head down. 

Just think of that ! 

We have a hard time, I can tell you. 

People often wish that there were 
no flies in the world. 



60 NATURE STORIES. 

But even we do some good. 

We eat up things that would make 
the air bad if left alone. 

Our children live on just such things. 

But I must fly off now, and keep 
out of your house. 

I will tell my friends, too, not to 
bother you. 

You were kind to me. 



o»{o 



SOME FRIENDS OP OURS. 
I. 

Here is one of them. Her name 
is Ichneumon Fly. 

What a big, hard name ! It means 
a " tracker." 

And what a wonderful tracker she 
is! 



SOME FRIENDS OF OURS. 



61 



No hunter or doff ^v~^ . r-^ 



r'l 



1 



could tiiid Ids jjrey /^^^^,t^W>^^ ' '-O 
better. '^^^7.-^?1^^V^ 



And wliy is (v\ 




she such a good hunter? Do you 
think she hunts for fun. 

No, indeed ; she is finding food for 
her little ones. 

To be a true little mother she must 
surely do that. 

She knows that her children will 
eat insect food only. 

I cannot tell you how she knows 
that. 

She does not eat such food herself 



62 NATUEE STORIES. 

She did when she was young, of 
course. 

Do you suppose she can remeniber 
it? 

Her great work in life is to find the 
right place to lay her eggs. 

Perhaps she goes along on a tree. 

She wishes to find where Mrs. 
Beetle left her egg and the food for 
her little one. 

She taps and taps on the tree. 

Soon she finds the place. 

Out comes her long sharp drill fi'om 
its case. 

She bores a hole and leaves her 
eggs there. 

Drill and case together look only 
like a black hair. 

Perhaps she goes to a cocoon and 
leaves her eggs in it. 



SOME FRIENDS OF OUES. 



63 



Then after a while her children will 
come out of it instead of a moth or a 
butterfly. 



II. 



Here is another Ichneumon Fly. 




See how tiny she is. 

She will never grow any bigger. 

Perhaps you think she is too little 
to be of any use. Let us see. 

She knows that her little ones will 
need the body of a caterpillar for food. 

So that is the very place she leaves 
her eggs. 



64 NATURE STORIES. 

By and by the little ones come out 
of these eggs. 

Soon they spin tiny white cocoons 
for themselves. 

You may often see these little white 
cocoons all over a caterpillar's body. 

Before long little white lids will 
open, and tiny ichneumons will fly 
out. 

I called the ichneumon flies our 
friends. 

Of course they do not know they 
are of any use to us. 

They go about their own work in 
the best way they know. 

In doing that they help rid our gar- 
den of many things that are harmful 
to it. 



A LEAF-CUTTER BEE. 



65 



A LEAF-CUTTER BEE. 
I. 




One day I saw a tiny hole in the 
plowed ground. 

Soon a little bee alighted near it. 



66 NATURE STORIES. 

She had a Httle piece of a leaf folded 
up between her hind legs. 

She crept into the hole with it. 

I conld not see what she did inside. 

Soon she came out and flew away. 

In a little while she came back with 
another leaf 

The pieces of leaves were nearly- 
round. 

Is it not queer that she can cut 
them out herself? 

She carries her scissors with her. 

She knows how to make a circle. 

I watched her for some time. She 
seemed to be working very hard. 

II. 

After several days I went back. 
The bee had gone away. I waited 
some time, but she did not come back. 



A LEAF-CUTTER BEE. 67 

I thought I would like to see what 
she had done. 

I saw a man coming with a plow. 

In another minute her nest would 
be plowed up. 

So I dug down into the ground and 
found her nest. 

It looked like a little roll of leaves. 

Each leaf had been cut just the 
right shape by the little bee. 

The leaves on the sides were long. 

A leaf was laid over the place where 
two others came together. 

At the ends were the round pieces 
of leaves. 

There were more than thirty pieces 
in this nest. 

Yet this nest was not as large as 
they are sometimes. 

I began to unroll the little bundle. 



68 NATUKE STORIES. 

I was anxious to see what I should 
find inside. 

At last I had taken off all the leaves. 

There was one tiny white grub, and 
a great deal of bee bread. 

Mrs. Bee knows how to make bee 
bread out of the yellow flower dust. 

You think that was a great deal of 
dinner to put up for such a httle being. 

But remember that it grows very 
much bigger eating all that food. 

She put up enough to last till it was 
ready to go to sleep and change into 
a bee. 

Then it could come out and take 
care of itself as its mother did. 



A BUTTEEFLY. 




69 



.-©$ 



A BUTTERFLY. 

llow do you do, 
my little friend? 
^-- 1 am glad you 
*'^ sto])ped there on 
that flower, 
luivo followed you 
tno tiiiit'. 
Oh! do not be afraid. I 
will not hurt you. 

I do not wish to catch you. 
Why should I do that ? 
You would not look pretty, then. 
I could not bear to hold you fast, 
and have you trying to get away 
from me. 

I only wish to look at you. 
How pretty you look, flitting there 
over the flower. 



70 



NATUBE STOKIES. 



>** 



How beautiful your wings look as 
you close and open them! 

Why are you sitting there? Are 
you getting your dinner? 

You must be very dainty to eat only 
what you find there. 

What a long tongue you have ! It 
looks like a black thread. 

I love to see you unroll it and put 
it down into the flower. 
How queer it looks to 

4 ^^^ y^^ **^^^^ ^^' ^p ^^^ ^ 

watch spring. Do 

you always roll it 

up when 

you are not 

^5.^ using 

it? 
Do you remem- 
ber when you were a caterpillar? 




A- QUEEE HOUSE. 71 

What a greedy thing you were then ! 

How you did eat and eat ! 

I am glad you have more dainty 
ways now. 

And you have such pretty wings ! 

What! Must you be going, Mr. 
Butterfly ? 

I am glad you did not fly off* at 
first, when I came up so close to see 
you. 

I hope to see you again. 

A QUEER HOUSE. 
I. 
What is this ? 

It grew on an oak tree ; but it is 
not an acorn. 

It is a little round house. 
It has no doors or windows. 



72 



NATURE STORIES. 




How can any 
one get in or 
out? 

No one can 
get in very well. 
^ ^ But some one 
'^/ UF)\^ will come out, 
'"^fef by and by. 
How do you suppose he ever got 
in? 

He grew in there. His house grew, 
too. 

Is that not queer ? 
Let us hear about it. 
One day a gall-fly came up to the 
place where this house is now. 

She took out her sharp drill from 
its case. 

She made a hole with it. 
Inside the hole she put an ^^'g. 



A QUEEE HOUSE. 73 

She must have put in something 
else to make this house grow. 

In a short time there was the Uttle 
round house, just as you see it. 

II. 

By and by a little grub will come 
out of the egg. 

He will begin at once to eat his 
house. 

Do you not think that is funny ? 

But it is just what he needs for food. 

See how handy that is for him ! 

He does not have to come out to 
hunt for his dinner. 

After a while he has eaten enough. 

He goes to sleep and changes into 
a gall-fly like his mother. 

He is ready to come out into the 
world. 



74 NATURE STORIES. 

He has lived shut up in his castle 
long enough. 

Oh, if he only had his front door 
open! 

But that does not worry him. 

He has never been out into the 
world ; but he knows just what to do. 

He cuts his way through his house. 

Oif he flies and leaves his front door 
open. 

He is done with his house now. 

Does this not sound like a fairy 
story ? 

Is not the round house like an en- 
chanted fairy palace ? 

III. 

MORE ABOUT THE ROUND HOUSE. 

I have another queer thing to tell 
you about the round house. 



MORE ABOUT THE EOUND HOUSE. 75 

I must tell you of what use such 
houses are to us. 

"What!" you say; "how can we 
use them ? 

"They are not good to eat. They 
are too little for us to live in." 

But stop, — we make something 
from them. 

There is something in them that 
helps to make good black ink. 

Just think of that ! Perhaps the 
ink I am using now was made of just 
such fairy houses ! 

You see the little fairy builder does 
some good for us, too, with her magic 
wand. 



76 



NATUEE STORIES. 



?. 



A GRASSHOPPER. 

[ovv do you do, Mr. 
hasshopper ? 
What very long legs 
you have ! 
Yes, they help me 
to jump. But I 
can fly, too. 
y Did you ever see 
my wings ? 
1 sit still here, you 
mnot see them. They 
fohled up like a fan. 
I have long straight wing covers to 
keep them safe. 

Watch me when I fly. Then you 
will see what big fine wings I have. 

They are nearly as pretty as a but- 
terfly's wings. 




A GRASSHOPPEB. 77 

But I am not like a butterfly. 

I never was an ugly crawling worm. 

When I was young, I looked nearly 
as I do now. 

But I was very little and I had no 
wings. 

As I grew bigger, of course I out- 
grew my first coat. 

I had nobody to make me a new 
suit as you have. 

My old coat was so little, I split it 
open down the back; but no one said 
a word to me for that. 

That is the way I take my coat ofi". 

N'ow comes the best part of my 
story. 

As soon as my old coat was otf, 
there was a new one already made. 

It was on me, too, and fit me 
exactly. 



78 NATURE STORIES. 

Whenever I outgrow my old coat, 
I take it off. 

I always find a new one under it 
ready made. 

My wings have been growing ever 
since I was little. But they are grown 
now. 

I am grown, too. I shall not need 
to change my coat any more. 

This one will not wear out, nor will 
I outgrow it. 

I have everything now that I need. 

ASLEEP ON THE TEEES. 
I. 

Look at the bare trees. 
But what is this on a twig? Can 
it be a bud ? 

JN'o, it is too big for a bud. 



ASLEEP ON THE TREES. 



79 




It is a ^1^^^ big brown ciadle. 

The bttJe^^^^ sleeper inside 
made his o\Yn ^^CT^,> ^ cradle. Yon 
should have seen " him do it! 

Spin, spin, spin ! How hard he did 
work! 

When his cradle was done, he went 
to sleep. 

Do yon know wliat he was ? 

Only a big green caterpillar. 

!N'ext spring the warm sun will 
waken him. 

He will creep out of his cradle. 

He will not have to crawl any more. 

He will be a beautiful moth. 

I hope you will see him. 



80 



NATURE STORIES. 



II. 

Here is a branch with a few leaves 
still hanging upon it. 
Why do they still hang to the tree ? 

Go close and look. 
Strange sight! They 
are tied to the tree 
with silk. 

Who could have 
done such a thing? 
The little fellow in- 
side of the leaf did it. 

Did he know that leaves fall off 
before winter comes? 

Did he wish to be sure that his bed 
would still swing on the tree-top ? 

At any rate, he has tied his leaf fast 
to the twig. And he has gone inside 
for his long sleep. 




ASLEEP IN THE GEOUND. 81 

He went in a caterpillar; he will 
come out a moth. 

All winter long he will sleep in his 
cradle on the tree-top. 

No fear has he of wind or storm. 

He is only waiting for the soft spring 
air to waken him. 

ASLEEP IN THE GROUND. 

How hard and bare the earth looks ! 

Now we see no ants crawling about. 

No grasshopper flies off as we walk. 

Not many living things greet us, as 
they did in the summer. What has 
become of them ? Are they dead ? 

The ants are down in theii' home 
in the ground. 

The frogs have hidden in the mud, 
to sleep all winter. 



82 NATURE STORIES. 

Many caterpillars sleep in their 
cocoons in the ground. 

Some spiders have hidden inside of 
dead leaves on the ground. 

Crickets and grasshoppers have left 
their eggs in the ground. 

Here and there, under logs or stones 
or in cracks, wasps and bumble-bees 
and others have hidden. 

In their hives the honey-bees spend 
their winter. 

They have plenty of sweet honey 
to eat. 

As we go about this bleak wintry 
weather, it seems as if nearly all life 
were gone. 

But it only sleeps in bud and seed, 
in egg and cocoon, in earth and water. 

The Griver of life can waken it in 
the morning of the year. 



AN OWL. 



83 



AN OWL. 




One day a boy and his father went 

nting. 

The boy sat down on the log to rest. 



hunting. 



84 NATUKE STOEIES. , 

Pretty soon his father came up. 

" Why, my son," he said, " see that 
owl ! " 

" Where ? " said the boy. 

" On the log near you." 

There sat the owl almost near 
enough for the boy to touch it. And 
he had not seen it. 

Can you think why ? 

I will tell you. 

Mr. Owl sat very still. He did 
not move. 

His feathers were against the log. 

He was nearly the same color as 
the log, so that he looked like a 
part of it. 

He did not open his big eyes. 

He only peeped through one eye, 
to see what the boy was doing. 

He did not get scared and jump off. 



BEAVEE AND SQUIRREL. 85 

He seemed to think if he sat very 
still, the boy would not see him. 

Was not that a cute idea of his ? 

That was his way of protecting him- 
self from harm. 

He is a pretty wise old fellow, is he 

not? 

— -5*0— 

BEAVER AND SQUIRREL. 

" Good morning, little squirrel ; may 
I ask what you are doing ? " 

" Cei-tainly, Mr. Beaver ; J am work- 
ing very hard to lay up my winter 
store of nuts." 

" How do you get your nuts cracked ? 
You are so little, you surely cannot 
do it." 

" Yes, I can ; I do it with my sharp 
teeth. 



86 



NATURE STORIES. 




BEAVER AND SQUIRREL. 87 

" Watch me as I turn a nut over 
and over in my sharp claws and 
gnaw it. 

" My teeth wear away as I use them. 

" That keeps them sharp. 

" They keep growing all the time, so 
that they do not wear out." 

"Why," said the beaver, "I have 
just such teeth as that myself. 

"But I can gnaw much bigger 
things than nuts with my teeth. I 
can gnaw down a tree." 

"Indeed! but why should you do 
that ? " 

" We need the trees to make a dam 
across the water. 

"Come with me, some day, and I 
will show you how we do it. 

" Many of us work together in win- 
ter. We can work better in that way. 



88 NATURE STORIES. 

" We make ourselves houses to live 
in. They are made of sticks, and plas- 
tered over with mud." 

" How do you plaster them ? " said 
the squirrel. 

"We do it with our big flat tails. 
They are our trowels." 

" Is that why you have such queer 
flat tails ? " 

" Yes, that is it. We could not work 
very well if we had such long hairy 
tails as yours. 

"Your tail is beautiful, but does 
you no good, I fear." 

" There you are mistaken ! It is so 
light that it bears me up, when I leap 
from one part of the tree to another." 

" I must tell you more about what 
we can build," said the beaver. 

" We like to have the water come 



BEAVER AND SQUIRREL. 89 

up over our front door. We are safer 
then. 

"Sometimes the water does not 
come up high enough. 

" Then we must build a dam to make 
it rise higher. 

"We cut down all the trees we 
need. 

"We build the dam of trees and 
sticks and stones, and plaster it with 
mud." 

"How do you get into your house 
if the water comes over the front 
door ? " 

" We swim to it. Our hind feet are 
webbed, so they make good paddles 
for swimming. 

" J see you have sharp claws, little 
squirrel. 

" What are they for ? " 



90 NATURE STORIES. 

" They help me to cling to the tree 
as I climb up." 

" We are not much alike, surely. 

" But each of us seems to have the 
things he most needs." 



o>*;o 



THE DUCK AND THE HEN. 

" Good morning, Mrs. Hen," quacked 
the duck. 

" Good morning," clucked the hen. 

" Let us take a walk," said the duck. 

" Very well, friend Duck, I shall be 
glad to go with you. I enjoy a good 
walk. I always find so many good 
things to eat on the way." 

" Let us go down to the pond and 
have a good swim." 

"Swim!" said the hen. "Not I! 



THE DUCK AND THE HEN. 



91 



I do not enjoy having my dress so wet 
and drabbled. 




"Why, I run in out of the rain 
whenever I can. 

" I look like a fright with my dress 



92 NATURE STORIES. 

• 

wet. It makes me cross, too. Wo, no ; 
you do not catch me going into the 
water." 

" Well, this is queer," said the duck. 

" Now, I love to go into the water, 
whenever I can. 

" It does not get my dress wet at all. 

"The rain slips right off of my 
back. 

" But if you cannot swim, you can 
run much better than I can. 

" The children all laugh when they 
see me running. They say I waddle. 
Perhaps I do. 

" That is because my legs are set so 
far back on my body. I can swim 
better with them so." 

" 0, Mrs. Duck, let us stop here and 
scratch a bit ! I am sure you will find 
a nice lunch." 



WHICH HAS THE BEST COAT? 93 

"Well, now, that is something that 
I cannot do. 

" Just look at my feet ! Do you see 
the web between my toes? No, no; 
1 cannot scratch. 

" I'll just take a dip into the pond. 

" I shall put my broad, flat bill down 
into the mud to find my lunch." 

"I am afraid my sharp bill would 
do very little good in the mud," said 
the hen. 

" I'll just scratch here till you come 
back. 

" Then we shall go home together." 

WHICH HAS THE BEST COAT? 
I. 

Look first at the fish's coat. 

It is made of hard, shiny scales. 



94 



NATUEE STORIES. 



The scales lap over so as to keep 
the water out. 

They are hard so that they cannot 
become soaked with water. 

That would make them heavy. 







They are oily so that the fish can 
slip easily through the water. 

They are in many pieces so that his 
body can bend easily in swimming. 

How could he have a better coat ? 



WHICH HAS THE BEST COAT? 



95 




Now we will look at the bird's coat. 
How beautiful it is, all made of 
feathers ! 



96 NATURE STORIES. 

How soft and light they are ! 

They will not be heavy for her to 
carry as she flies up. 

Indeed, they help her to fly. 

See how wide she can spread out 
her wings. 

She can press on a great deal of air 
with them. 

That is what makes her rise. 

Ah ! what a good coat she has ! 

III. 

Here is an animal who has another 
kind of coat. 

It is very thick and very hard. 

It is all in two pieces. 

It will open like a book. 

Mr. Mussel lives inside. 

How can he get about with such a 
heavy coat ? 



WHICH HAS THE BEST COAT? 



97 



But stop ! he does not need to get 
about much. 

He lives in the water The waves 
bring his food to him. 



,.^^iCJ-- 




He needs only to open his shell and 
take it in. 

His coat is so hard because his body 
is so very soft. He needs something 
hard upon it to keep him from harm. 



98 NATUKE STORIES. 

Suppose he lived in the water and 
had the coat of a bird, what would 
become of him ? 

Suppose the bird had his or the 
fish's coat, what could she do ? 

Each one seems to have what is best 
for his own use. 



A CUTTLEFISH. 

A big fish was swimming about in 
the sea in search of food. 

He soon spied a cuttlefish. 

" Ah ! " said Mr. Big Fish, " now I 
shall have a good dinner." 

So he swam after Mr. Cuttlefish as 
fast as he could. 

On swam the little fish pretty fast 
also. 



A CUTTLEFISH. 



99 




Suddenly the water seemed to be- 
come quite black. 

" Why ! " said Mr. Big Fish, " what 
can be the matter? What has be- 
come of my dinner ? 

" I cannot see anything ! 

" Has it suddenly become night, or 
have I gone blind ? " 

So he swam around as best he could. 

Soon he got into the clear water 
again. 



100 ]^ATUKE STORIES. 

There all was light and bright as 
before. 

But what had become of Mr. Cuttle- 
fish? 

Shall I tell you a secret that Mr. 
Big Fish did not know? 

Mr. Cuttlefish always carries an ink- 
bag with him. 

He saw that the big fish was about 
to catch him. 

So he emptied his bag into the 
water. 

That made the water black all about 
him. 

Then Mr. Big Fish could not see 
him. 

So you see he could easily swim off 
another way. 

Ts not that a pretty good way of 
saving himself from harm ? 



SOME LITTLE DRESSMAKERS. 



101 



•I n ^3':! iS>J ftbltllSPOl'f 



SOME LITTLE DRESSMAKERS. 
I. 

Ah ! see this pretty wool dress ! 

Look at the holes ___^=^_^_ 
in it. 

Some dresses have 
been cut out of it. 

The dressmakers 
were only little 
moths. 

How do you sup- 
pose they got into 
this dress? 

They have lived 
there all their lives. Their mother 
flew into the closet some time when 
the door was open. 

Oi' perhaps she crept through the 
keyhole. 




102 NATURE STORIES. 

She laid her eggs about in several 
places. 

Little things that looked like worms 
came out of these eggs. 

Their mother did not stay to take 
care of them. 

She knew they could take care of 
themselves. 

She needed only to leave them on 

this dress. 

II. 

The little moths at once began to 
make themselves dresses out of this 
one. 

They bit out the pieces and wove 
them together. 

They made themselves nice little 
cases or dresses. 

By and by they grew too big for 
their little dresses. 




SOME LITTLE DRESSMAKERS. 103 

What did they do then ? 

Why! the most sensible thing in 
the world. ^y^. 

They cut open their ^''^■ 

old dresses and set in 
a new j)iece. 

That made them bigger, you see. 

They did this as often as they grew 
too big for the old dresses. 

Can you guess what they had to eat 
all this time ? 

Why ! this dress, to be sure ! 

After a while they will shut them- 
selves up in these cases. 

They will sleej^ till they are ready 
to come out with wings. 
They will be leady to 
lay eggs in some one's 
clothing. They must pro- 
vide for their own baby moths. 




104 NATURE STORIES. 

That is their way of doing it. 

Well, little moths, you are pretty 
cunning little dressmakers. But I 
am not willing to let you make your 
dresses out of mine. 

I mean to keep you out of my 
closet. 

AWAKE. 
I. 

The gentle South Wind has come 
again. 

He says: "Go back, cold IS^orth 
Wind, to your home. You have played 
your rough pranks long enough. 

"You have had your time playing 
with the ice and snow, 

"The Spring Sun and April Rain 
and I must have our time now. 



AWAKE. 105 

"All the little people in the big 
brown house have been asleep all 
winter. 

" We mean to call them up. 

" The Sun makes the big room warm. 

"The Rain taps gently on their 
doors. 

" I call softly : ^ Wake up, little peo- 
ple ; your long winter sleep is over. 

" ' Come, little, ants, you may begin 
your work now. 

"'Wake up, Mr. Frog, and creep 
out of your mud house. 

" ' Come, little bees ; the flowers are 
getting your breakfast ready. 

" ' They will soon be calling you to 
come and help them at seed-making. 

" ' Come, butterflies and moths ; 
creep out of your cradles on the tree- 
tops and in the ground. 



106 NATURE STORIES. 

" ' Make the country more beautiful, 
you flying flowers.' " 

ir. 

Watch how gladly all the little peo- 
ple obey the South Wind. 

At the first call, many of them peep 
from their hiding places. 

Some of them can scarcely wait to 
be called. 

At the first hint of a warm day, 
they peep out, hoping it is time to 
get up. 

But often the cold sends them back 
to bed again. 

But now the South Wind and the 
Sun have sent Jack Frost and I^orth 
Wind ofl* for a long time. 

So the little people are all awake. 



AWAKE. 107 

How busy they are ! Work ! I 
should think so ! 

What a time they have finding a 
place for their homes. 

Then they work hard in building 
them. 

Then they must care for their little 
ones. 

How different the big brown house 
is now from what it was in the winter. 

What a busy, buzzing, working, liv- 
ing place it is now. 

All the little people are awake, busy 
and happy at their work. 



108 NATUKE STORIES. 



A COCOON. 

Here is a cocoon. 

It is fastened to a little brown twig. 

We cannot see inside of it. 

We cannot hear anything. 

It seems like a poor dead 

thing. 

See what a thick warm 
covering it has. 

No cold can get in to 
harm the little sleeper inside. 
Do you not wonder what 
is going on inside this little brown 
house ? 

A great caterpillar made this house. 
He used to live on the maple tree. 
Oh ! how he did eat leaves ! 
One day he began to spin. 




THE MOTH. 



109 



He spun and worked till his house 
was done. 

Do you think he knows what is 
going on now? 

I think he must be very fast asleep. 



o;*:o. 




^f&:^, 



THE MOTH. 

Ah ! here you are, you beautiful 
moth. 

Were you ^'^'^^^s^^y^rj 
not glad to get 
out of that close 
little house ? 

How could 
you grow so big in that little place ? 

Where did you get out of it ? 

At first your wings were all wrin- 
kled up. 

Now they are straight and strong. 



110 NATURE STORIES. 

How beautiful they are ! 

Your coat looks like red and white 
striped velvet. 

Your feelers look like little ferns. 

Did you know yourself when you 
came out with that fine dress? 

Do you remember when you were 
only a caterpillar ? 

How glad you must be now to fly 
instead of having to crawl ! 

Fly away, pretty moth, and try your 
beautiful wings. 

I do not wish to keep you. 



o>l«o 



A KINGBIRD. 

Do you see me ? I am a kingbird. 
I am a fighter. I will tell you why 
I fight. 



A KINGBIRD. 



Ill 




My mate and I made our nest in a 
cherry tree. 

She is sitting in the nest now. 

This is my perch up here at the top 
of this tree. 

I sit here all day. I mean to defend 
my little mate. 'No harm shall come 
to her. 



112 NATURE STORIES. 

If another bird comes here, I give 
my shrill cry. Then I fly after him. 

Yesterday a woodpecker came to 
get the cherries. 

But I would not have it. Not that 
I care for cherries. 

'No, indeed ; I eat insects. 

But I am not going to have him 
here bothering my mate. 

I flew after him. I pulled out some 
of his feathers. 

He was glad to get away, I can tell 
you. 

I have to be pretty brave to stick to 
my post all the time. 

Sometimes a thunder shower comes 
up, but I do not mind that much. 

I just sit here, even if I do get wet. 

A soldier must not run, even if 
something unpleasant does happen. 



THE ROBIN'S SONG. 113 

I must be brave in defending my 
little mate. 

She is doing her part, sitting on the 
eggs. 

By and by we shall have a house 
full of the dearest children you ever 
saw. _^ ^^_ 

THE ROBIN'S SONG. 

" Cheer up, cheer up, — cheer, 
cheer ! ! " 

Oh ! pretty robin, what a sweet song 
you are singing. Is your nest in that 
tree? 

No, indeed. I would not sit here to 
sing if it were. 

I do not wish you to know where 
my nest is. 

You might harm my little wife. 

You might take away our home. 



114 



NATURE STORIES. 




We have the dearest home in the 
world. I am so happy. I love to sit 
here and sing. 

]^ow, I will tell you a secret if yon 
will be kind. 

I sing so that my little mate can 
hear me, and be happy, too. 



THE EOBIN'S SONG. 115 

I do not wish her to be lonesome. 

Our nest is not in this tree. 

But it is so near that my little wife 
can hear me. 

Now if you find her, you will not 
harm her or our little home, will you ? 

She does not look just like me. 

If she wore such a gay dress as 
mine, you could find her easily. 

So could the cat or any other enemy 
of ours. 

She wears a dress that is suited to 
what she has to do. 

She has to sit on her nest a long 
time. 

So her dress is nearly the color of 
the nest and the tree. 

You cannot see her easily. 

Well, good by, I must go to find 
her something to eat. 



116 



NATUKK STORIES. 



AN ANT'S STORY. 




\v< >rk( ' rant/' '"^'^^^^ 




'^^?^i-^^--' 



Olio (Uiy I was 
out hunting some- 
thing to oat. Soon I found a big 
piece of sugar, — many times as big 
as I am. 

I wondered where it came from. 

I looked up and found that a big 
giant had brought it to me. • 

You do not call her a giant. You 
call her a little girl. 

"Well," I thought, "not all these 
big people are cruel." 



AN ANT'S STORY. 117 

I should like to have people study 
us that way. 

She helped us instead of hurting us. 

I wished to carry that sugar home, 
but it was too heavy. 

I could barely move it. 

So I went to tell another worker 
about it. 

He came to help me. 

The little girl said: 

" How did that other ant know about 
this sugar ? " 

I could not tell hei' that I told him. 

She would not have heard me. She 
cannot hear the sounds I make. 

My fi'iend and I together could not 
carry the big piece of sugar. 

We bit off pieces and carried them 
home. 

At last we carried them all in. 



118 NATURE STORIES 

That little girl wished to learn about 
us, I am sure. 

She had a glass with her. 

It made us look bigger, she said. 

Her eyes cannot see such little 
things as we are, very well. 

I was glad to let her see how we 

managed to get in the good store she 

gave us. 

II. 

I should like to tell the little girl 
about the way we live, for she was 
kind to us. 

If she were not so big, I would in- 
vite her down into our home. 

I would show her all the rooms and 
halls deep down in the ground. 

Down there is our queen. She is 
the mother of all. 

Once she had wings. 



AN ANT'S STORY. 119 

But wh^n she settled down at home 
she took them off. She did not need 
them any more. 

She lays the eggs. Then the nurse 
ants take care of them. 

Tiny white grubs come out of these 
eggs. 

A grub looks like a wee white worm. 

The nurse ants must feed it and 
wash it. 

They take care of it as if it were a 
baby. 

By and by it goes to sleep in a white 
case. 

You have often seen these white 
bundles. 

The nurse ants carry them off if 
any danger comes near our home. 

After a while the cases open, and 
full-grown ants come out. 



120 NATURE STORIES. 

III. 

We are very busy, hard-working 
little people. 

I cannot take that little girl down 
into my home. 

I cannot show her the things I have 
told you about. 

But I can take her with me when I 
go to milk. 

She may follow me some day to the 
primrose bush. 

Then she will see where we keep 
our cows. 

She will find many of us running up 
and down the stem of that plant. It 
is our cow pasture. 

Our cows do not run about as big 
cows do. 

They fasten themselves to the plant, 
and keep sucking out the sap. 



THE ANT'S STORY. 121 

But they take more than they need. 

They give it out through two little 
tubes on their backs. 

We call it honey-dew, and are very 
fond of it. 

We pat them gently with our feel- 
ers, to get them to give it to us. 

IV 

One day a dreadful thing happened 
to some of our cows. 

A big red and black monster walked 
right into our pasture. He ate up 
some of our cows. 

Presently he spread out his coat 
and flew away. 

I heard a little boy say, " 0, there 
goes a Lady Bug ! " 

We do not give him such a pretty 
name as that. 



122 NATURE STORIES. 

We do not like him. 

But I am a worker ant, and -must 
not stop longer. 

Perhaps you may see the little girl 
who was so kind to us. 

Tell her to come on with her glass 
and sugar whenever she likes. 

We shall be glad to let' her see all 
she can. 

THE BEST JUMPER. 

" I can jump farther than you." 

" 'NOy you cannot. I can jump the 
farthest." 

Did you ever hear boys talk that 
wav? 

Then you may have seen them try 
to see which could do best. 

Perhaps they jumped six feet. 



THE BEST JUMPER. 123 

You thought they did very well. 
I will tell you about the best jumper 
of all. 

His name is Mr. Flea. 
What an odd- 

lookmg msect ! 'v'M'^0 ' 
See, what 




strong legs! 

His body is ^ ^^y^^'^^f^M^'^ 
covered with 
plates of hard, tough skin. 

0, you have seen him, and you do 
not like him ! 

Neither do I ; but that is no reason 
why I should not learn something 
about him. 

There is one thing he can do better 
than any one else. 

He can jump two hundred times his 
own length. 



124 NATURE STORIES. 

His long hind legs help him to do 
that. 

Think what a spring he must make 
to go so far ! 

If a little boy could jump like that, 
he could go more than a square at one 
leap. 

Would not that be fun ? 

Well, Mr. Flea, I hope you will use 
your big jumps to take yourself away 
from us. 

Then we will not bother you. 



o}©;o 



A MAY FLY. 

Here is a beautiful little May Fly. 
Sometimes she is called a Day Fly. 
She has but one day to live and 
enjoy her beautiful wings. 



A MAY FLY. 



125 




You must not think that is all of 
her life. 

She lived two or three years in the 
water. 

She came out of an egg which her 
mother left on the water. 

Her wings grew while she lived in 
the water. 

Of course they were kept shut up 
tight in a case. 

She was getting ready for this beau- 
tiful day in the air. 



126 NATURE STORIES. 

By. and by she was all ready. 

She crept out of the water, and out 
of her old dress. 

And here she is, as dainty and pretty 
as can be. 

Do you feel sorry that she cannot 
live longer? 

She does not need to live more than 
a day. 

She has but one thing to do; she 
must lay her eggs on the water. 

Then her life work is done. 

Suppose you or I had to make some- 
thing that was to last but one day. 

Would we try to make it as pretty 
and perfect as this little May Fly is ? 



SOME LITTLE HELPERS. 



127 



SOME LITTLE HELPERS. 




Ah ! here is a poor little dead bird. 
It ought not to be left lying here. 
Some one ought to bury it. 
Look ! there are some little people 
about it. 

They are called sexton beetles. 
What can they be doing ? 



128 NATUEE STORIES. 

I think they are burying the little 
bird. 

Dig, dig, dig, — how busily they 
work ! 

They are digging the dirt out from 
under it. 

So, little by little, the bird sinks 
down into the ground. 

Why do they take all this trouble ? 

Do they know that the bird's body 
should not be left lying there ? 

Perhaps they do not know that. 

But they do know that this body is 
just the food that their little ones will 
need. 

So they are going to leave their 
eggs there. 

And now they are covering it up. 

They are doing good, even if they 
do not know it. 



TUMBLE BUGS. 



129 



They are helping to keep the earth 
clean and the air pure. 

So while they are at their own work 
they are doing much good. 

Who planned that this should be so ? 



oJ«Ko 



TUMBLE BUGS. 

^ ■■•'■ '■■' 



. ^<^- 




-'^ 






See those two big fellows with their 
ball. 

What are they doing ? 



130 NATURE STORIES. 

See them rolling, pushing, and tug- 
ging with all their might. 

N^ow they are getting on very well. 

See ! they have come to a high 
place. 

How can they get up ? 

Push and tug ! — there ! they are 
almost to' the top. 

Ah! a slip, — down they go, bugs 
and ball to the foot of the hill. 

It looks very funny. 

Do they give up their hard task ? 

They get up and try again. 

I feel almost as if I should like to 
help them. 

But perhaps they would not thank 
me. 

Ah ! now they are up the hill. 

Down they go, rolling over and over, 
on the other side. 



TUMBLE BUGS. 131 

Up again and at their work. 

What does this mean ? 

Where did they get the ball ? 

What are they going to do with it ? 

They made it themselves. 

They have put an egg inside of it. 

This ball is made of just what their 
baby will need to eat. 

Now they are going to take the ball 
to a safe place. 

Perhaps they will take it to the side 
of the road. 

If you watch them, you will see 
them cover it up. 

Then they will go away satisfied. 

They have done their part. 

They have provided for their little 
ones. 



132 



NATURE STORIES. 



A LITTLE CARPENTER. 




" What are you doing, little bee ? 

" Are you getting ready to make a 
house ? 

" Do you mean to have that tree cut 
down and hauled away ? " 

"I am hunting a place to make a 
house. 

" This twig suits me pretty well. 

" But I shall not need to cut it down 
and take it away. 



' . A LITTLE CARPENTER. 133 

" I come right h-ere where the wood 
grows, to build my house." 

" So you are a carpenter. I do not 
see your tools. How can you make a 
house without tools ? " 

" I carry my tools with me. I can 
bore down into this twig. 

" That is the way I make my little 
round front hall. 

" Then I make little rooms down the 
middle of the twig. 

"I put walls between the rooms. 
The walls are made from chippings 
that come from boring the hole. 

" I stick them together with a glue 
of my own make. 

"Each room that I make is to be 
the home for one baby bee. 

" It is a great deal of work to make 
such a house as mine. 



134 NATUEE STORIES. . * 

"But I am making it for my little 
children, so I work very gladly." 

"You are a pretty fine little carpen- 
ter, I think. 

"Do you make any new style houses ? 

" Do you try to make them any bet- 
ter than bees used to make ? 

" The carpenters that I know, make 
better and finer houses than carpen- 
ters used to make. 

"Perhaps you cannot learn to do 
that. But I am sure you do the best 
you can." 

A QUEER FELLOW. 

His name is Walking Stick. 
That is a queer name, is it not ? 
He is a queer fellow, too. 
His name tells just what he is like. 



A QUEER FELLOW. 135 

See ! he looks almost like a stick, 
or twig. 

You would scarcely see him as he 
sits there upon the 
twig. 

He is just about 
the color and shape 
of a little twig. 

But he really ^\ 4y 

has a head and ^ " 
legs. 

When he walks ^^''' 

he looks very mueli like a j^;J 
stick walking. So ho lias a ^ 
name that fits him pretty well. 

Can you think why he has such a 
queer shape ? 

He cannot be easily seen as he is. , 

His queer shape helps protect him 
from harm. 




136 



NATURE STORIES. 



Even this humble little insect has a 
way given him to protect himself. 

His Maker gave him what he most 
needed. 



<»j*:o 



A LADY BUG'S TALK. 




Of course you all know me. 
My name is Lady Bug. 
Sometimes I am called Lady Bird. 
See my beautiful red and 
black cloak ! 

I have a pair of wings 
folded up safe under it. 
Did you not know that I can fly ? 




A LADY BUG'S TALK. 137 

Watch me some time and see. 

Do you know what I do sometimes 
when I am scared ? 

I drop down suddenly and lie quite 
still. 

I draw up my legs and try to look 
as if I were dead. 

I think no one will harm me if he 
thinks me already dead. 

When my enemy is gone, I can fly 

away. 

II. 

Did you know that I am your friend? 

I never do you any harm. 

Indeed, I do you much good. 

You should be glad to see me about. 

You have seen little green bugs on 
some plants. 

Of course you do not like to have 
them there. 



138 NATURE STORIES. 

They harm the plants. 

They are the very things that my 
friends and I like best for food. 

So we take oif as many as we can. 

The more Lady Birds there are, the 
fewer green bugs on the plants. 

III. 

My children like these green bugs, 
too. 

So I always leave my little yellow 
eggs where there is plenty of food. 

When the little ones creep out, they 
need not go far to find their dinner. 

They are very, very greedy little 
ones. 

But they are growing fast, you see ; 
so they must eat a great deal. 

My children do not look at all like 
me when they are little. 



A LITTLE ACTOR. 139 

They are dark-colored grubs with 
yellow spots. 

They have no wings. 
. They must sleep for a time in a 
little case glued to the under side of 
a leaf 

Then they come out Lady Birds 
like me. 

Do not forget that I am your friend. 

Be a friend to me. 

A LITTLE ACTOR. 

One day I walked in the meadow. 

All at once there was a little quail 
fluttering along in front of me. 

I could not see where it came fi*om. 

" Poor little thing," I said, " how 
lame you are ! 
" " You must be badly hurt. 



140 



NATURE STORIES. 




IW0 



■>**l!.,^*-"^t 



fffc^^ 






\ v'r}%\ 

" I will pick you np and see what I 
can do for yon." 

But I did not pick hei' up. 

Just as I got to her, she flew away 
as well as could be. 

What could she mean by " playing 
hurt " in that way ? 



A LITTLE ACTOR. 141 

She saw me coming near her and 
her little ones. 

Perhaps she thought : " I will make 
that person think I am lame. 

" I will limp and flutter away from 
here. 

" When I get her far enough away 
from my little ones, I will fly away." 

You poor little mother ! How hard 
you tried to protect your little ones ! 

You took a pretty good way, too. 

For surely I never thought of your 
children, but only of you. 

But you need not have feared me. 

I would not hurt your babies. 



142 



NATURE STORIES. 




A LITTLE GYMNAST. 

Do you know who this 
is? It is Mr. Looper. 

He makes his body into 
a loop as he walks. 

Is not that a queer way 
of walking? 

Do you know why he 
must walk that way? 
He has no legs in the middle part 
of his body. 

If he wishes his back legs to 
come up with his front ones, 
he must make a loop of him- 
self 

Watch him some time to 
see how he does it. 

Sometimes he w ishes to go 
from a tree to the ground. 




A LITTLE GYMNAST. 143 

He has a cute way of doing that. 

He swings himself down by a silken 
thread. 

He spins it himself as he goes. 

He can climb back up his thread if 
he likes. 

But I must tell you what a hard 
thing he can do. 

He can hold himself to a twig with 
his two back legs. 

Theh he can stretch his body out 
free from the twig. 

He can remain straight and still that 
way for a long time. 

Do you not think that is a hard 
exercise ? 

He looks almost exactly like a twig 
when he does that. 

Can you think why he does such a 
thing ? 



144 



NATURE STORIES. 



Perhaps he thinks the birds will 
suppose he is only a twig and let him 
alone. 

Is it not wonderful that even a 
measuring worm has a way to pro- 
tect himself? 



o»io 




LIVING LIGHT. 

Here is a little fairy 
who flies about in the 
night. 

But he does not mind 
the dark. 

Indeed why should he ? 
He carries his own little 
light with him. 

You have often seen 
him with his little candle. 

You call him a Firefly. 



A LIVING LIGHT. 145 

Did you ever think what a queer 
fire he has? 

It does not burn him. 

It will not feel warm to you if you 
hold your hand near him. 

Yet what a bright little spark he 
carries ! 

How beautiful it looks to see these 
little earth-stars flying about at night ! 

Mr. Firefly is a very plain little body 
in the day. 

With his sober dress we would 
scarcely see him among so many 
bright-colored flowers and butterflies. 

But at night we cannot see them. 

Then he comes out and does his 
part to make the world bright. 



146 



NATURE STORIES. 



A LITTLE MESSENGER. 



Here is a fine 

little messenger. 

'■0^... He is dressed 

in velvet and 

gold. 

He is a pretty 

noisy little fellow. 

"Hum, hum, 

buzz, buzz," all 

day. 

He is a very 
faithful messen- 
ger. 

You must not bother him about his 
work. 
Perhaps he may fight you if you do. 
He goes to see Red Clover. 
" Good morning, dear Clover," he 




A LITTLE MESSENGEE. 147 

says. " I have brought you something 
nice. 

"Here is some flower-dust from 
your friend across the field." 

"Thank you, Mr. Bee," says Red 
Clover. 

" How glad I am to get it ! 

"I was needing some flower-dust 
very much. 

" I use it to make my seeds grow. 

" Will you go back to my friend and 
take hei* some of my flower-dust ? 

" That will help her seeds to grow." 

" That I will," says Mr. Bumble Bee. 

And so all day this little messenger 
flies about from flower to flower. 

He carries a good message to each 
one. 

But who pays him for all his trouble? 

Does ho get nothing for himself? 



148 NATURE STOEIES. 

Oh, yes, indeed! the pretty red 
clovers pay him. 

Such sweet honey as they have for 
him ! 

1^0 one knows how to get it so. well 
as he. 

His cousin Honey Bee, cannot get it 
at all 

Perhaps the red clovers like him 
better than any other messenger. 

I am glad, Mr. Bumble Bee, that you 
are such a good messenger. 

I am glad the red clovers pay you 
well with their sweet honey. 

1 fear we would have no red clover 
if it were not for you. 



A LITTLE GARDENER. 149 

A LITTLE GARDENER. 




This gardener is a little earthworm. 

He is not pretty to look at. 

He has no legs. He has no eyes. 

He does not look much like a gar- 
dener. 

Perhaps we think he is of no use. 

He may not seem to us worth think- 
ing about. 

But still he is a most wonderful 
little worker. 

He and his friends are of much use 
in the world. 

They keep the earth loose about the 
roots of plants. 



150 NATURE STOEIES. 

Sometimes they have made a rough 
stony field good to use. 

How do such humble little things 
do so much? 

How can they cover a field with 
rich dirt? 

They have no spades to dig with. 

They have no baskets nor wagons to 
carry up the soil. 

So they make baskets of themselves. 

They fill their own bodies full of the 
soil. 

Then they carry it up and leave 
little casts of themselves on the 
ground. 

Of course one of these little garden- 
ers cannot do much. 

But there are so many of them. 

Then they work, work, work so 
steadily. 



A HUMMING BIRD. 



151 



Each one does his own little part. 
And by and by a great good thing 



is done. 



o>»Jo 



A HUMMING BIRD. 




See this dear little bird. 

Watch her dart from flower to 
flower. 

See her put her long slender bill 
into the flowers. 

What holds her up in the air ? 



152 NATURE STORIES. 

Her wings are moving so fast that 
they keep her up. 

Have you ever seen her at rest ? 

She is a very shy little bird. 

Sometimes she makes her nest on 
the limb of a tree. 

She covers it on the outside with 
moss or lichens. 

It looks almost like a knot on the 
limb. 

On the inside she makes her nest 
very soft. 

She lays two very tiny white eggs 
in the nest. 

It is very hard to find her nest. 

She tries as hard as she can to keep 
it from being found. 

See what beautiful colors she wears ! 

She looks almost like a flower 
herself 



A HAWK MOTH. 



153 



You can scarcely see her when she 
is among the flowers. 

Perhaps she wears such a gay dress 
that she may not be easily seen. 

AVe are glad to have you come to 
our flowers, little bird. 

We will not do you any harm. 



<*»{o 



A HAWK MOTH. 



flying about over 




What is this 
the flowers ? 

Is it a hum- 
ming bird? 

It looks a 
little like one. 

If he would fjuly 
stop, we would soon see that 
he is not a bird. 



154 NATURE STORIES. 

He has six legs and four wings, 
instead of two legs and two wings. 

He has no beak like a bird. 

Instead of that, he has a very long 
tongue, like a hair. 

He can unroll it, until it is several 
inches long. 

He uses it to reach down into the 
flowers that have long tubes. 

He is as dainty about his food as a 
humming bird. 

He was not always so dainty as he 
is now. 

He began life on a tomato vine. 

He was called a tobacco worm, or a 
tomato worm. 

He was very greedy then. 

He had a very queer little way of 
raising his head. Perhaps you have 
seen him do it. 



A HAWK MOTH. 



155 




-O 



He went down 
into the ground 
for his long nap. /Jf((^^: 

So he did not "~/3 
need to make a thickLA'iytVx 
cocoon to keep hini WnT?Vf,v^ 
warm in winter. 

He slept in a 
queer little case down in the ground. 

There was a little stem on one side 
of his case. 

Perhaps his long tongue was stored 
away there. 

When spring came he crept out of 
his dark bed. 

He went forth to feed upon the 
flowers. 

I^ext time you see a tomato worm, 
perhaps you will feel more interest in 
him. 



156 



NATURE STORIES. 



Now you know his story. You 
know what a pretty winged thing he 
may become. 



OjOiCK 



A SNAIL. 




" How do you do, Mr. Snail ? 

" Where are you going ? 

" I do not think you will get there 
very soon. 

" You go so slowly. 

" I know now what people mean 
when they say 'as slow as a snail.' 



A SNAIL. 157 

" Why do you go so slowly ? " 

" Look what I have on my back. It 
is my house. 

"Suppose you had to carry your 
house with you, should you not go 
slowly ? " 

" Why do you not leave your house 
in one place and go back to it as I 
do?" 

"I could not do that. I need to 
have it with me. 

" If I went without it, my soft body 
might easily be hurt. 

" So you see I carry my house with 
me. When there is any danger I can 
creep inside of it." 

" So you cannot run from any dan- 
ger ? " 

"No, indeed; I have but one foot. 
I could not run at all. 



158 NATURE STORIES. 

" But I do not need to run home as 
you do. 

"My home is always with me, you 
see." 

"Well, for my part, I do not see 
how you get about at all. 

"Just think of having a house to 
carry and only one foot to walk with ! " 

" I cannot go very fast, as you see ; 
but I do my best. 

" When I start, I keep at it. 

" So I can really go farther than you 
think." 



o^e<o 



A DRAGON. 

I. 



Do you see me ? 

See my four beautiful wings ! 

See my big bright eyes ! 



A DRAGON. 



159 




Some little children 
call me a snake feeder. 

That is not my name. 

I have nothing to do 
with snakes. 

I am a Dragon Fly. 
I am a dragon to little 
insects. 

But you need not be 
afraid of me. I will 
not hurt you. Indeed, I do you much 
good. 

I like insects for my dinner. Of 
course you are glad to have me take 
them out of your way. 

You should see how many mosqui- 
toes I catch. 

I sit very still and watch sharply 
till I see one. All at once I dart at 
him very swiftly. He cannot get away. 



160 NATURE STORIES. 

II. 

You see I like to stay near the 
water. 

It was my old home. Do I look as 
if I ever lived in the water ? 

I had no wings then, you may be 
sure. 

My food was little water insects. 

I wore a mask over my face. Then 
the insects could not see my strong 
jaws. 

I could swim up and catch them. 

I lived in the water for some time. 

My beautiful wings were growing 
under my old skin. 

At last I knew I was ready to leave 
my old home. So I crept up a long 
lily stem. 

My old coat split open and I crept 
out. 



A DRAGON. 



161 




Then I had to wait for my wings to 
spread out and grow strong. 

How glad I was to be out in the 
bright sunshine ! 

I can fly back and forth very swiftly 
through the air. 



162 NATURE STORIES. 

Ah ! there is a big mosquito ! 
He will never trouble you. 
See how swiftly I will dart after 
him. 

A CAREFUL LITTLE MOTHER. 

Here is one of the 
queerest of in- 
sect mothers. 

■^^-^ra-^^^^^^rs^;^- She is not 
T "^-^y^, - '^- " ~ I i k e d very 

well. She has not a pretty name, 

either. She is called an earwig. 

Perhaps you may find her sometime 
under a stone. 

She has queer little wings. 

They fold up like a fan. Then she 
doubles them crosswise and puts them 
under her wing cases. 




A CAREFUL LITTLE MOTHER. 163 

But I must tell you what kind of a 
little mother she is. 

We have read of some insect 
mothers who never see their babies. 

But I assure you she does. 

She really sits on her eggs like a 
mother hen. 

When the little ones hatch out, she 
leads them about to find food. 

She takes very good care of them. 

Is it not queer there are so many 
different ways these little folks have 
of caring for their children ? 

There is always something new and 
interesting for us to learn. 

It is never possible for us to know 
it all. 



164 NATURE STORIES. 

THE MOST WONDERFUL OF ALL. 

I. 

I have told you some stories of some 
little beings about us. 

We have read many queer things 
about them and their babies. 

Many of these babies know at once 
how to take care of themselves. 

Some of them make houses to live in. 

Some make themselves cases or 
dresses. 

They know how to make these 
bigger when they are too small. 

They know what kind of food they 
need. 

They know where and how to get it. 

Many of them know how to spin a 
cocoon for themselves. 

They seem to know they must go 
into it for a long sleep. 



THE MOST WONDERFUL OF ALL. 165 

They finally grow to be just like 
their parents. 

They build houses jiist as their 
parents did and no better. 

They take care of their little ones 
just as they were taken care of. 

They eat the same kind of food. 

They have the same kind of tools 
given them. 

They use them in the same way. 

They run or fly, or crawl or walk 
just as their parents did. 

II. 

Now let us hear about the most 
wonderful baby of all. 

He cannot take care of himself 
He cannot make his own clothes 
nor find his own food. He cannot 
make himself a house to live in. 



166 NATURE STORIES. 




^ 



♦^ 



His parents do all these things for 
him. He cannot fly or swim nor run. 

He cannot even walk till he learns 
how. 

I do not need to tell yon what kind 
of a baby this is. You know already. 

Perhaps you have one in your own 
house. 



THE MOST WONDERFUL OF ALL. 167 

You know that he will be a man 
when he is grown. 

He is not wonderful for what he can 
do now. But the wonderful part is 
what he may learn to do. 

III. 

Let us think of some of the won- 
derful things man can do. 

He cannot fly 5 but he can make a 
balloon that will carry him up through 
the ail'. 

He cannot run very fast ; but he can 
make cars and an engine. These will 
cai'ry him much faster than any ani- 
mal can run. 

He cannot swim very well ; but he 
can make a boat that will carry him 
over the water faster than a fish can 
swim. 



168 NATUEE STORIES. 

He has no house given to him, as 
Mr. Snail has; but he can make for 
himself an excellent house. 

He has no coat of feathers nor scales 
nor fur given him; but he can make 
beautiful clothes for himself 

He has no light given him to carry 
about in the dark, as Mr. Firefly has ; 
but he knows where to get gas and 
make a light. 

He knows, too, how to make a light 
as brilliant as the lightning itself 

He has no saw nor chisel nor drill 
given him; but he knows how to 
make all these things and more for 
himself 

He has not such wonderful eyes as 
even a fly ; but he knows how to make 
glasses that will- let him see things 
he could not see at all without them. 



THE MOST WONDERFUL OF ALL. 169 

One of these glasses makes things 
look more than a hundred times their 
real size. 

So man can learn about many things 
in the world that his own eyes could 
never see. 

The other glass helps him to see 
things far away, like the sun and moon 
and stars. 

It makes them seem nearer; then 
he can learn about them. 

Man cannot hear a sound very far 
away; but he knows how to make 
something that will carry sound all 
around the world in less than a minute. 

So he can know what goes on all 
over the world every day. 

He can learn to read what people 
have said and written down hundreds 
of years ago. 



170 NATURE STORIES. 

So he knows what happened in the 
world long before he came into it. 

Does not man seem to you a very 
wise and wonderful being ? 

He can be what is better still. 

Think how many stories we have 
read of men who have been brave and 
strong and true. 

How often have they been kind and 
helpful to people not so strong as they 
were. 

As they do such things they grow 
more and more hke their Maker. 



Who taught the spider how to make 

Her silken web so light ? 
Who gave her such a cunning way 

To take her airy flight ? 



THE MOST WONDEEFUL OF ALL. 171 

Who told the timid little bird 
To play that she was lame, 

And try to lead me far away 
When near her young I came ? 

Who taught a little mother wasp 

To make her paper nest, 
And work away the summer hours 

Without a thought of rest ? 

How does a little honey bee 
Know how to make her cell. 

And fill it with such dainty food 
To feed her babies well ? 

It was their Maker gave to them 
Such wondrous skilful ways ; 

He gives them all some work to do 
Through all the summer days. 



172 NATURE STORIES. 

He gives to us, my children dear, 
More skill of mind and heart ; 

Then surely we should try our best 
To do as well our part. 



ELEMENTARY NATURE STUDIES. 



Nature Stories for Young Readers. 5 



PLANT 
LIFE. 

A book to accompany First and Second Readers, by M. Florenxe Bass, 
Indianapolis, Ind. Boards. 107 pages. Introduction price ^5 cents. 

THE main feature of the book is its method of presenting natural 
science to children. 

The forces of nature are personified and each object of nature 
studied is placed in its proper relation to its environment, thus making 
a story that is enjoyable not only to small children, but to those 
** grown up." 

Many of the lessons aim to give only a particular instance of a 
general truth, to lead children to discover for themselves other like 
instances and finally to infer the truth itself. 

Let the objects be brought before the children in every case in which 
it is possible, that they may become familiar with the real things 
treated of in the book. 

They should observe the plants in the different stages of growth 
indicated, when reading the lessons descriptive of those stages. 

The arrangement of lessons is made with reference to the con- 
venience of the teacher, who will select such as are suited to the season 
in which she is working. 

This book is particularly valuable in the spring of the year, because 
the regular readers have been read and re-read until they have ceased 
to be interesting to the pupils. 

The school itself is apt to become irksome at this season and the 
children simply endure it, while they do their real living out of doors. 

The lessons in this book, when properly used, help to do this. They 
will cause the children to bring inta the school-room many things that 
interest them, and to observe many others that cannot be brought in. 

It has not seemed amiss to let the children see that there is some- 
thing beautiful and interesting even in the most common and de- 
spised weeds. 

The book is intended to be used as a change from the regular 
reader and not to be read through continuously by any class. It may 
be used in the first and second primary grades as a supplementary 
reader and in the third grade for sight reading. 



ELEMENT A R Y NA TV RE STUDIES, 



Leaves and Flowers, 

First Studies for Young Readers. By Mary A. Spear, late Principal of 
Model School, State Normal School, West Chester, Pa. Boards. 103 pages. 
Introduction price, 25 cents. 

" The Spirit of Observation is the best of Professor s^ 

" The child who is endowed with the spirit of cbservation learns 
for himself a multitude ofthitii^s which for ez'er escape minds that are 
indifferent and incapable of observing.'* — COMPAYRi:. 

" Properly presented, no lessons are so interesting and attractive to 
children as those which deal with living plants and animals ; and 
none are more effective in the cultivation of habits of exact observation, 
accurate comparison^ and sound reasoning.'^ — RiCKS. 

IT has been well said that teachers can in no better way train the 
perceptive faculties of the child than by teaching him to observe 
carefully the operations of Nature, but such observations should be 




intelligently guided under the direction of a skillful teacher. The 
French official program purposely insists on the very elementary char- 
acter of the instruction given in the physical and natural sciences in 
the common school. The child at first studies those things that de- 
light his senses, such as flowers and the pleasanter forms of vegetable 
life, animals, the most attractive minerals, and the most common forms 
of insect life. 



30 ELEMENT AR Y NA TURE STUDIES, 



My Saturday Bird Class. 

Edited by Margaret Miller. Boards. 112 pages. Introduction price, 25 
cents. Price by mail, 30 cents. 

THIS small volume on a charming subject contains a graphic account 
of a real class taught by the author in which the more familiar 
birds were described and talked about. At the close of each lesson a 
walk was taken for practical observation. 

The book may be used as an aid to the teacher, or as a supplemen- 
tary reader. It is especially adapted for the spring term. 

The following account of the origin of this book gives an excellent 
idea of its purpose and plan : — 

MISS MILLER'S BIRD-CLASS IN HATFIELD. 

That a personal experiment should lead to a narrative of its course is the 
wholesomely natural means by which Margaret Miller's account of " My Satur- 
day Bird Class" grew into the attractive Httle book that D. C. Heath «& Co. 
now publishes. Begun with no other thought than a desire to impress upon a 
few children the love of birds that comes from knowledge of their names and 
ways and characters, the charming project was so welcomed by the little 
folks that Miss Miller's book now addresses a larger audience with all the 
advantages of a proved attempt. It has, beside, the further value of a spon- 
taneous grace of style, and the truthfulness of a close observer who knows 
children as well as she does birds, and in much the same fashion. With pretty 
touches of humor and in the simplest of narrative language the report of a 
dozen lessons is given, during which the robins, bluebirds, sparrows, wood- 
peckers, screech owls, cuckoos, and all the other frequent guests of our woods 
and hedgerows were introduced, and described to the Saturday class, embellished 
with many entertaining anecdotes and little tales to make the way of learning 
pleasant, and to clinch the facts in the memory. 

At the close of each chapter is appended a note summarizing the scientific 
facts that with admirable tact are excluded from the main narrative; an 
arrangement that cannot be too much commended for similar books of 
information for the young, which are often neither fact nor storybook in the 
effort to be both. In the midst of the lesson occurs one real "story" in the 
charming account of " Billy Wren's Housekeeping," which has been previously 
published in a newspaper, but is quite good enough to be thus reprinted. A 
larger purpose than the getting of learning into young heads must have been 
in this teacher's intent, which has led her always to try to implant in the young 
hearts the lesson of humanity toward the birds; and the unaffected little book 
further shows how wholly unnecessary is the gathering of •* collections " of 
stuffed birds and their eggs, which at present disfigure our usual method of 
teaching ornithology. — Republican, Springfield^ Mass, 



SEASIDE AND WAYSIDE. 



BOOK I. 




Illustration from No. i. — Mr. and Mrs. Ckab. 
CONTENTS, 



Lesson. 




I. 


Mr. and Mrs. Crab. 


11. 


Mr. Crab and his House. 


III. 


More about Mr. Crab. 


IV. 


Mr. and Mrs. Crab get New 




Coats. 


V. 


What the Crab does. 


VI. 


Mr. Crab and his Friends. 


VII. 


Some Other Crabs. 


VIII. 


The Hermit Crab. 


IX. 


The Crab's Enemies. 


X. 


The Uses of Crabs. 


XI. 


Mrs. Wasp and her Home. 


XII. 


What Mrs. Wasp can do. 


XIII. 


A Look at Mrs. Wasp. 


XIV. 


Mrs. Wasp's Year. 


XV. 


Mrs. Wasp at Home. 


XVI. 


Review. 


XVJI. 


The Bee and the Man. 


XVIII. 


How the Bee is Made. 


XIX. 


The Bee at Home. 


XX. 


The Bee Babies. 


Book I 


. 95 pages. 32 illustrations. 



Lesson. 

XXL The Bee War. 

XXH. The Bee's Work. 

XXIII. The Wise Bees. 

XXIV. Earth Bees. 
XXV. Other Bees. 

XXVI. More about Bees. 

XX VII. The Spider and his Dress. 

XXVIII. The Spider at Home. 

XXIX. The Little Nest. 

XXX. The Spider and his Food. 

XXXI. Very Queer Spiders. 

XXXII. Review. 

XXXIII. Out of Harm's Way. 

XXXIV. Shell-Fish. 

XXXV. The Story of Mr. Conch. 

XXXVI. Sea-Babies. 

XXXVII. More about Sea-Babies. 
XXXVIIL About Mr. Drill. 

XXXIX. The Story of a War. 

XL. How Shell-Fish Feed. 

XL I. Review. 
Introduction price, 2c; cts 



BOOK IL 




lUustiation from No. 2. — Thb Parasol Ants. 





CONTENTS, 


BSSON. 




Lbsson. 


I. 


A Look at an Ant. 


XXV. 


II. 


The Life of an Ant. 


XXVI. 


III. 


The Ant's Home. 


XXVII. 


IV. 


The Ants at Home- 


xxxvin. 


V. 


The Ants on a Trip. 


XXIX. 


VI. 


The Farmer Ants. 


XXX. 


Vil. 


Ants and their Trades. 


XXXL 


VIII. 


The Slave Ants. 


XXXII. 


IX. 


Wonder Ants. 


xxxin. 


X. 


The Ways of Ants. 


xxxiv. 


XI. 


Mr. Worm and his Family. 


XXXV. 


XII. 


The Earth-worm at Home. 




XIII. 


Mr. Worm at Work. 


XXXVI. 


XIV. 


Mr. Worm's Cottage by the 


XXXVII. 




Sea. 


XXXVIII. 


XV. 


Mr. Worm at Home. 


XXXIX. 


XVI. 


A Look at a House-Fly 


XL. 


XVII. 


How to Look at a Fly, 




XVIII. 


Mrs Fly and her Foes. 


XLL 


XIX. 


Of what Use are Flies. 


XLIL 


XX. 


A Swarm of Flies. 


XLIII 


XXI. 


Some Queer Flies. 


XLIV. 


XXII. 


In Armor Clad. 




XXIII. 


When Mr. BeeUe was 
Young. 


XLV. 


XXIV. 


How to Learn about Beet'es 





The Rose Beetle. 

Princes and Giants. 

The Little Sexton. 

The Story of the Stag Beetle. 

Mr. Beetle Seeks for a Home. 

The Little Water-Men. 

Whirligig Beetles. 

What a Fisherman Told. 

Mr. Barnacle and his Son. 

A Fishing Party. 

A Last Look at Mr. Bar- 
nacle. 

Flowers of the Sea. 

The Life of a Jelly-Fish. 

Sea-Stars. 

A Sea-Change. 

The Star-Fish with an Over- 
coat. 

The Flying Flowers. 

Under the Water. 

A Happy Change. 

The Dragon-Fly and hi* 
Cousins. 

The Wings of the Dragon. 

Review Lessons. 



Book II. 184 pages. 39 illustrations. 35 cts. 



DOOK III. 




Illustration from No. 3. —Beaks. 





CONTENTS, 




JBSON. 




Lesson. 




I. 


The Great Mother. 


XXV. 


Joseph's Coat. 


II 


The Earth's Eldest Child. 


XXVI. 


Cousin Moth. 


III. 


A Look at a Plant. 


XXVII. 


The Child of the Night. 


IV. 


A Year in a Plant's Life. 


XXVIII. 


The Bird. 


V. 


The Growth of Plants. 


XXIX. 


Beaks and Claws. 


VI. 


The Food of Plants. 


XXX. 


Trees, Ground, and W 


VII. 


Seeds and Leaves. 




Birds. 


VIII. 


The Color of Plants. 


XXXI. 


On the Wing. 


IX. 


The Motion of Plants. 


xxxu. 


Nest Building. 


X. 


Plants and their Partners. 


XXXIIL 


The Bird at Home. 


XL 


Air, Water, and Sand Plants. 


XXXIV. 


Birds of Song. 


XXII. 


Plants that eat Animals. 


XXXV. 


The Other Partner. 


XIII. 


Weather Prophet Plants. 


XXXVI. 


A Brigade of Birds. 


XIV. 


Plant Clocks. 


XXXVII. 


The Birds in the Woods. 


XV. 


The School Cabinet. 


XXXVIII. 


The Birds in the House. 


XVI. 


The Old Man of the Meadow. 


XXXIX. 


The Lost Birds. 


XVII. 


The Life of the Old Man. 


XL. 


The Fin Family 


XVIII. 


The Robber Cousin. 


XLI 


Outside and Inside. 


XIX. 


The Merry Cousins. 


XLIL 


Where they Uve. 


XX. 


Queer Cricket. 


XLIH. 


How they Behave. 


XIX. 


Other Hoppers. 


XLIV. 


Fry and School. 


XXII. 


A Real Live Fairy. 


XLV. 


Scales and Teeth. 


KXIII. 


The Child of the Day. 


XLVI. 


Big and Little Brothers. 


XXIV. 


Life Among Snow and Roses. 








Book III. 300 pages. 


29 illustrations. 50 cts. 



BOOK IV. 




Illustration from No. 4. — The Rbign of the Pine. 
CONTENTS. 



I. 


Earth Building. 


xxvn. 


II. 


The First Continent. 


XXVIIL 


III. 


The Age of Crabs and Corals. 


XXIX. 


IV. 


The Pines and the Reptiles. 




V. 


The Palm and the Man. 


XXX. 


VI. 


The Starry Heavens. 


XXXI. 


VII. 


A Fragment of the Milky 


XXX J L 




Way. 


XXXIII. 


VIII. 


Plan and Progression. 


XXXIV. 


IX. 


The King of the Day. 




X. 


The Queen of the Night. 


XXXV. 


XI. 


Vanished Fauna. 


XXXVI. 


XII. 


A Mountain of Fossils. 


XXXVII. 


XIIL 


Wiitttnin Rocks. 


XXXVIII. 


XIV. 


Footprints in the Sand. 


XXXIX. 


XV. 


The Winter of the World. 




XVI. 


Fossil Crabs. 


XL. 


XVII. 


Stone-Fish and Stone-Lilies. 


XLI. 


XVIII. 


Long- Buried Reptiles. 


XLIL 


XIX. 


Birds of other Ages. 


XLin. 


XX. 


The Early Mammals. 


XLIV. 


XXI. 


Very Old Families. 


XLV. 


XXII. 


The Marvel in Mail. 


XLVI. 


XXIIl. 


The Wonderful Builder. 


XLvn. 


XXIV. 


An Opossum Hunt. 


XLvni. 


XXV. 


A New Fashion of Pappoose. 


XLIX. 


XXVI. 


Low Down in the Scale. 


L. 


Book IV, 


370 pages. 28 illustrations. 


60 cents. 



With a Duck's Bill. 

In Australian Rivers. 

A Walk Among Wonder 

Trees. 
Still in the Wonder Grove. 
A Noisy Family. 
The Frogs' Cousin. 
Salamanders. 
A Citizen of the Marsh 

Lands. 
A Stranger from Mexico. 
Some Merry Little Friends. 
The Ancient Monster 
£1 Lagarto. 
Wiser than any Beast of the 

Field. 
Our Common Enemy. 
With a House on His Back. 
A Real Live Mermaid. 
Great Whales Also. 
A Seal-Skin Cloak. 
Flying Mammals. 
Order out of Confusion. 
Nibblers. 
Gnawers. 
The Thick Skins. 
The Ruminants. 



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Bailey's Grammar School Physics. A series of inductive lessons in the elements 
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Ballard's The World of Matter. A guide to the study of chemistry and mineral(^y; 
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Clark's Practical Methods in Microscopy. Gives in detail descriptions of methods 

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Clarke's Astronomical Lantern, intended to familiarize students with the constella- 
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Clarke's How to find the Stars. Accompanies the abo /e and helps to an acquaintance 
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IV. Agassiz's First Lessons in Natural History. Illustrated. 64 pages. Paper. 



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